The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision recently that serves to remind employers of their duty to attest to the information they record from new hires on the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9.
In reversing a fine assessed against a company by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency for improperly attesting to the information on the I-9, the appeals court ruled that it was reasonable for the company to believe that it could complete I-9 forms based on “corporate” or “entity” knowledge of the authenticity of the documents presented by an employee rather than based on the “personal” knowledge of just one person.
In this case, a company representative at one location examined the original identifying documents, while a corporate representative at a different location completed the attestation section of the I-9s after receiving and reviewing photocopies of the relevant documents.
Although the Form I-9 instructions have since been revised to make clear that the same person who examines the document must be the same person who makes the attestation on the form, the Fifth Circuit’s decision is still instructive because it serves as a reminder that significant liability can arise from lapses in properly completing the I-9.
A copy of the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Employer Solutions Staffing Group II, LLC v. Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, et al., Case No. 15-60173 (August 11, 2016), is available here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.