The Department of Justice has taken action against an IT firm that was reportedly hiring for a position and looking for “only US-born citizens” who are white to fill it.
The job posting from Arthur Grand Technologies Inc. said it wanted “only US-born citizens [white] who are local within 60 miles from Dallas, TX.”
The posting on the online job board Indeed also included “[Don’t share with candidates],” implying that the desire for white employees was not meant to be public knowledge.
The DOJ shared that it has reached a settlement with the company over the job posting.
Officials with the Justice Department said that the hiring ad, which spread like wildfire on social media, deterred qualified individuals from applying.
An investigation from the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found that the job was posted on Indeed by the company’s Indian subsidiary.
It was determined that the ad violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by excluding candidates who would have been eligible despite their national origin and citizenship status.
Arthur Grand apologized for the job posting and said that the employee added discriminatory language without approval.
“At Arthur Grand, we do not condone or engage in any type of discrimination based on race, color, or religion,” the company said in a post on LinkedIn.
It went on to say that it had looked into who the employee was that posted the job with its description.
“We conducted an investigation and discovered that a new junior recruiter at our firm was responsible for the offending job posting,” the post said. “We have taken immediate action and terminated their employment for violating our policy.”
The company has also agreed to a settlement that will see it compensate those who filed complaints with the OFCCP over the job posting.
It has also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $7,500, implement comprehensive training for its staff, and revise its employment policies.
“We are committed to holding federal contractors accountable for outrageous discriminatory practices like this advertisement,” Acting Director Michele Hodge of the OFCCP said, per the DOJ.