Jerry Estopy, Employment Discrimination, Texas 2010

Federal Suit Targets Texas Farm Over Alleged Employment Discrimination

A Texas farm is facing federal allegations of employment discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department. Jerry Estopy, doing business as Estopy Farms, a sorghum and soy farm in McAllen, Texas, is accused of refusing to hire a U.S. citizen based on his citizenship status in 2010.

The U.S. citizen, who has over twelve years of experience operating cotton combines and tractors, applied for a position with Estopy Farms as a cotton picker operator in June 2010. However, the farm hired a number of seasonal foreign workers instead, allegedly preferring to hire foreign workers under the H-2A visa program.

The H-2A visa program allows foreign nationals into the U.S. for temporary or seasonal agricultural work. Employers that seek to participate in the program file an application with the U.S. Department of Labor certifying that they have actively tried to recruit U.S. workers for the jobs and that the temporary workers’ employment will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate discriminatory hiring practices,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division. “While the department does not enforce the rules pertaining to the H-2A program, we will vigorously enforce the INA’s anti-discrimination provision, which protects U.S. workers against an employer’s illegal and discriminatory preferences.”

The Justice Department seeks to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid on behalf of the two U.S. citizens on Nov. 14, 2011. The department alleges that Estopy Farms discriminated against one of the U.S. citizens when it refused to hire him based on his citizenship status.

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. For more information about protections against employment discrimination under the INA, call 1-800-255-7688 (OSC’s worker hotline) (1-800-237-2525, TDD for hearing impaired), 1-800-255-8155 (OSC’s employer hotline) (1-800-362-2735, TDD for hearing impaired), or 202-616-5594; email osc.crt@usdoj.gov; or visit OSC’s website at www.justice.gov/crt/osc

Jerry Estopy, d/b/a Estopy Farms, McAllen, Texas, 2010: Employment Discrimination by Preferentially Hiring Foreign Workers

The case number is not specified in the source. For more information, contact trial attorney Liza Zamd at 202-616-5594; email osc.crt@usdoj.gov

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