DOJ fine against GM accompanied by export control law guidance

General Motors (GM) agreed to pay $365,000 to settle charges it discriminated against non-U.S. citizens by requiring prospective hires to provide unnecessary documents as part of its export compliance assessment.

The settlement, announced Tuesday by the Department of Justice (DOJ), mandates GM revise its employment policies, properly train personnel on the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and be subject to monitoring and reporting requirements.

From at least July 2019 to May 2021, personnel at GM’s headquarters and at least one field office requested non-U.S. citizen new hires provide “an unexpired foreign passport as a condition of employment, imposing a discriminatory barrier on them in the hiring process,” the DOJ said.