DOJ Hits Firm With Fine After 'Whites Only' Job Listing

Labor Department got involved, too, after ad posted by Virginia's Arthur Grand Technologies
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2024 10:43 AM CDT
DOJ Hits Firm With Fine After 'Whites Only' Job Listing
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/vicky_81)

In March of last year, Arthur Grand Technologies, a tech firm based in Loudoun County, Virginia, posted an ad for an open business analyst position within the company. That in itself isn't unusual, but the wording of the ad was a different story. "US Born Citizens [white] who are local within 60 miles from Dallas, TX" only need apply, read the job listing, with that bracketed word enough to draw attention on social media, as well as a fine from the Justice Department, per WTOP.

Two months after the job was posted, the DOJ's Civil Rights Division launched a probe and found that a recruiter working for an Arthur Grand subsidiary in India had put up the job listing on Indeed, per a release. In addition to the Labor Department finding that the job posting breached an executive order that bars federal contractors from "discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin," the DOJ found it also violated the Immigration and Nationality Act when it called for US-born applicants only, per WTVM.

Arthur Grand, for its part, denied that it ever gave the OK on the ad, calling the recruiter a "disgruntled" worker who wanted to "embarrass" the company. As part of its settlement with the DOJ, Arthur Grand will pay a $7,500 civil penalty and update its training on INA requirements. It has also agreed to be monitored to make sure it's complying with the INA.

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And, per its agreement with the Labor Department, Arthur Grand will also dole out more than $30,000 to take care of those who've filed complaints. "I share the public's outrage at Arthur Grand's appalling and discriminatory ban on job candidates based on citizenship status, national origin, color, and race," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement, per the release, calling the company's job listing "shameful." (More discrimination stories.)

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