United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 17-1344 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee v. Nebraska Beef, Ltd. lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Nebraska - Omaha ____________ Submitted: May 15, 2018 Filed: August 27, 2018 ____________ Before SMITH, Chief Judge, BEAM and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges. ____________ SMITH, Chief Judge. Nebraska Beef, Ltd. (“Nebraska Beef”) appeals the district court’s1 grant of summary judgment to the government in this action to enforce a settlement agreement. We affirm. 1 The Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon, United States District Judge for the District of Nebraska. I. Background In 2012, the United States Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC),2 a section in the Department of Justice (DOJ), began an investigation into Nebraska Beef, a meat-packing company. The investigation sought to determine whether the company discriminated against immigrant workers in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324b. Specifically, the OSC alleged that Nebraska Beef unlawfully required work-authorized immigrants to provide certain documents not required of non-immigrants. See 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(6). In 2015, rather than proceed into litigation, the government and Nebraska Beef entered into a settlement agreement. The agreement required Nebraska Beef to pay a $200,000 civil penalty and to provide back pay to those who were not hired as a result of the practice or whose hiring was delayed by it. Nebraska Beef also agreed not to engage in any such practices in the future. The third and fourth opening recitals of the agreement set forth the parties’ positions on liability: WHEREAS, the Office of Special Counsel concluded based upon its investigation that there is reasonable cause to believe that Respondent used documentary practices based on citizenship status in violation of [8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(6)]. WHEREAS, Nebraska Beef denies that it has used any documentary policies or practices based on citizenship status in its employment eligibility verification process in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(6). Appellant’s Add. at 10. 2 The OSC underwent a name change, becoming the Immigration and Employment Rights Section, after litigation in this case began. For ease of reference, we refer to it as the OSC in this opinion. -2- Paragraph 3(b) stated, “The Office of Special Counsel maintains its right, as a federal agency statutorily charged with serving and educating the public regarding the scope of its enforcement activities, to notify the public, including but not limited to individuals [Nebraska Beef] identifies and notifies pursuant to paragraph 3, about this Agreement.” Appellant’s Add. at 11. Nebraska Beef signed the agreement on August 20, 2015, and the government executed it four days later. That same day, the OSC issued a press release announcing the agreement on the DOJ website. The webpage also linked to a copy of the settlement agreement. The first two paragraphs of the release stated: The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement with Nebraska Beef Ltd., a meat packing company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The settlement resolves ...
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