The Justice Department reached a settlement agreement with Crop Production Services Inc., an agricultural company headquartered in Loveland, Colo., over the company’s apparent preference for foreign visa workers over domestic workers.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit the Justice Department filed against the company Sept. 28, alleging the company discriminated against U.S. citizens because of a preference for foreign visa workers, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, DOJ said.

The department’s lawsuit alleged that in 2016, Crop Production discriminated against at least three U.S. citizens by refusing to employ them as seasonal technicians at its El Campo, Texas, location because the company preferred to employ temporary foreign workers under the H-2A visa program.

According to the department’s complaint, Crop Production imposed more burdensome requirements on U.S. citizens than it did H-2A visa workers to discourage U.S. citizens from working at the facility. For instance, the complaint alleges that, although U.S. citizens had to complete a background check and a drug test before being permitted to start work, H-2A visa workers were allowed to begin working without completing them and, in some cases, never completed them.

The complaint also alleged Crop Production refused to consider a limited-English-proficient U.S. citizen for employment yet hired H-2A visa workers with limited-English proficiency. Ultimately, all of Crop Production’s 15 available seasonal technician jobs in 2016 went to H-2A visa workers instead of U.S. workers.

The settlement agreement requires Crop Production to pay civil penalties of $10,500 to the U.S., undergo department-provided training on the anti-discrimination provision of the INA, and comply with departmental monitoring and reporting requirements. In a separate agreement with workers represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Crop Production agreed to pay $18,738.75 in lost wages to affected U.S. workers.

“There will be zero tolerance for companies that violate the Immigration and Nationality Act by hiring foreign visa holders over U.S. workers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “The division’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative is committed to fighting discriminatory hiring practices that prevent qualified U.S. workers from obtaining jobs, and we commend Texas RioGrande Legal Aid for bringing this matter to our attention.”