A Virginia-based tech company will pay thousands of dollars in fines for posting a job that requested “whites only” applications.
The Justice and Labor departments have fined minority-owned federal contractor Arthur Grand Technologies Inc. a $7,500 civil penalty. The departments also ordered the federal contractor to pay a total of $31,000 to 31 people who complained about the post.
“It is shameful that in the 21st century we continue to see employers use job advertisements that say ‘whites only’ and ‘born in the United States only’ to exclude otherwise eligible candidates of color,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
The company began advertising a Dallas-based Salesforce Business Analyst and Insurance Claims Analyst position in March 2023. In its job posting, the company restricted eligible candidates to “only US-born citizens (white) who are local within 60 miles of Dallas, TX (do not share with candidates).”
The post sparked outrage on social media and the Justice Department launched an investigation. The company denied approving the post and claimed it was posted by an employee working for its subsidiary in India.
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The Justice Department said the listing violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Labor Department said the company violated an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, national origin and other protected characteristics.
“We are committed to holding federal contractors accountable for egregious discriminatory practices like this advertisement,” said Michele Hodge, acting director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. “Companies like Arthur Grand that accept federal contracts cannot have a ‘whites only’ contracting process.”
The departments said Arthur Grand’s actions harmed people authorized to work in the United States, including U.S. citizens born outside the country and certain non-U.S. citizens.
In addition to the fines, the company will now be subject to monitoring to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws. It will also be required to train its employees on the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act and review its employment policies.
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