Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW YORK -- The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Teachers Placement Group, Inc., of Plainview, New York, and both the company's founder and president $120,000 in civil money penalties for their illegal treatment of 15 nonimmigrant alien teachers. The company had recruited them from India to fill math and science teaching jobs in the Newark, New Jersey, public school system.

The company, its founder Michael Vanjani and company president Radha Vanjani, are charged with willfully failing to pay the teachers wages required under federal law, discriminating against the teachers, and failing to comply with other requirements of immigration law. The department is also demanding that the company and the two individuals pay the employees a total of $187,546 in back wages.

"Abuse of the foreign labor certification program undermines the integrity of the program," said Irv Miljoner, district director on Long Island for the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, which conducted the investigation.

Because of the alleged willful violations, the Labor Department is also taking steps to bar the company and its principals from sponsoring additional alien workers for employment in the U.S. for a certain period of time. The enforcement actions were detailed in a determination letter sent by the Wage and Hour Division to Teachers Placement Group, Inc., and Mr. and Mrs. Vanjani.

The company had requested authorization to employ the Indian teachers to work under the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allow employment of foreign nationals for a temporary period to work in "specialty occupations" in the U.S. H-1B employees must be paid wages that are based on what is paid similarly employed U.S. workers. The law also protects them from intimidation for attempting to exercise their rights under the law.

Miljoner noted that the Labor Department's investigation of the company determined that the employers had coerced and threatened the teachers with deportation, reducing their wages below the legally required wage rate.

The determination letter informs the company and Mr. and Mrs. Vanjani of their right to request a hearing on the determination if they believe it is in error. The investigation was conducted by the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division district office in Westbury, NY; telephone 516-338-1890. Additional information is available on the Internet at: www.wagehour.dol.gov or by calling 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

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