On Monday evening, Phil Baxa, my good friend and colleague, stood in my office, chatting about “work stuff,” catching up after several days of not stopping to speak, even though our offices are next door to each other. Having both recently moved our practices to Sands Anderson, we had a lot in common. We talked [...]

Employers are not permitted to tell employees what documentation out of the approved I-9 documents they must provide to comply with the I-9 process. Employees must be able to make their own choice among the selection of approved documents as provided in the I-9 instructions. Directing the documentation or requiring more documentation than required is unlawful and leaves the employer open to charges of discrimination and violation of the I-9 process.

The firing of Juan Williams from his job at NPR provides a textbook example of “How Not To Fire.” It highlights a rationale that many employers use to make terminations that can easily backfire: using a single “event” to justify the