Catherwood LibraryILR School

An NLRB administrative law judge has ruled that Cinelease Inc. violated the NLRA by rechecking the work authorizations of immigrant employees an attempt to discourage employees from unionizing. Cinelease had no standard of regularly rechecking work authorizations and launched their immigration audit at a time when workers were set to vote on unionizing, making their actions unprecedented. The company was unable to explain the timing of the audit, and the judge stated that the audit was unfinished, unconvincing, and attempted to recheck the documentation of permanent U.S. residents, which is prohibited by federal law. William A. Stock, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association emphasized that regularly asking employees to provide paperwork proving eligibility to work is usually not only lawful, but also required, but immigration status cannot be used to intimidate employees.