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Image caption: US Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clark called the job offer “embarrassing in the 21st century.”Article information
- Author, Sam Cabral
- Paper, JOBsNews News, Washington
May 28, 2024
A company whose job advert was seeking only white, US-born candidates has agreed to pay a fine of $38,500 (£30,000), the federal government has announced.
The Arthur Grand Technologies ad was “generated by a disgruntled recruiter in India and was intended to embarrass the company,” the Justice Department said.
It was found to violate both federal civil rights and labor laws.
Arthur Grand will pay $7,500 in civil penalties to the U.S. Treasury, as well as $31,000 in total compensation to individuals who filed complaints about the incident.
The Virginia-based IT services company has served federal and commercial clients since 2012, according to its website.
In March 2023, a recruiter working for its subsidiary in India posted an advertisement for a Salesforce Business Analyst and Insurance Claims vacancy on the job search website Indeed.
In bold text, the long-term contract position includes a note: “Only US born citizens (white) who are local within 60 miles of Dallas, TX (do not share with candidates).”
The position includes clients such as HTC Global in Michigan and Berkshire Hathaway in Nebraska.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke called the job posting “disgraceful” in a statement Thursday.
“I share the public outrage over Arthur Grand’s egregious and discriminatory ban on job candidates based on their citizenship status, national origin, color and race,” he wrote.
“Companies like Arthur Grand that accept federal contracts cannot have a ‘whites only’ contracting process,” Michele Hodge, acting director of federal contract compliance for the U.S. Department of Labor, added in her own statement.
As part of its settlement agreement with the two federal agencies, Arthur Grand must also train its employees on the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, which prohibits hiring or firing people based on their citizenship status and national origin. It must also review its employment policies and submit to oversight by the Justice Department.
In a statement to JOBsNews, the company’s CEO said he “vehemently denies any wrongdoing or wrongdoing.”
“This unauthorized post was made by a disgruntled employee on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) from his personal email address and account,” Sheikh Rahmathullah said.
“Upon discovering this, we took immediate and decisive action to ensure that this type of incident never happens again, including immediately terminating the employee responsible.”
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