“I was out for two days, and when I got back half the building was gone,” said one current employee of the South Street Seaport food hall's sudden document check.
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“Chefs, line cooks, maintenance workers, servers, the people who do our garbage and recycling,” said another current employee, referring to their fired colleagues. “It’s everyone.” Asked whether the job cuts were related to the building’s financial struggles, a spokesperson said they had not heard anything to that effect.
But the employees interviewed for this story said their affected colleagues still have yet to return to work 13 days after the verifications began on Dec. 28.On the night of Friday, Dec. 27, Tin Building employees said they began receiving texts from their managers informing them of upcoming HR meetings for which they would need to bring identification documents specified in the federal employment eligibility verification form I-9.
A company spokesperson said that while the sudden loss of staff disrupted business operations in late December, the ongoing closures and cutbacks were preplanned in order to re-engineer the spaces during the slow winter season. Jean-Georges Restaurants, which has a joint venture with SEG in the Seaport, did not respond to requests for comment.Under federal law, all U.S. employers are required to verify their employees’ work authorization status upon hire, according to Jacob Monty, founder of Monty & Ramirez LLP, a law firm specializing in employment, labor and immigration compliance.
Unlike previous management, SEG uses E-Verify, the online verification tool administered by the Department of Homeland Security, an SEG spokesperson said. E-verify requires the same documentation as the I-9 form, but adds an additional layer of scrutiny by comparing submitted documents with government databases., but not in New York. Many immigrant advocates have criticized it as ineffective and invasive.
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