The U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Justice have reached a settlement with a Virginia-based IT recruiting company after finding a job posting discriminatory. Here the Department of Labor building is seen in Washington, DC
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Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images
A job posting that included race and citizenship requirements — and the stipulation “Do not share with applicants” — resulted in settlement agreements between Virginia-based IT staffing firm Arthur Grand Technologies Inc. and the American government.
Under the terms of the agreement, Arthur Grand will pay a civil penalty of $7,500, as well as a total of $31,000 to the 31 people who complained about the post. The company – which is minority-owned and a federal contractor designated as a disadvantaged business – will also be monitored to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws.
“It is shameful that in the 21st century we continue to see employers use ‘white only’ and ‘U.S. born only’ job advertisements to exclude otherwise eligible applicants of color,” the Attorney General said. Deputy Kristen Clarke of the Department of Justice. Rights Division, which announced the deals.
Arthur Grand “neither admits nor denies any violation,” the Labor Department agreement states. But in a message to NPR, Arthur Grand CEO Sheik Rahmathullah said his company “vehemently denies any culpability or wrongdoing.” The job posting was written by a dishonest employee, he said.
What did the job advert say?
The job posting sparked outrage and accusations of discrimination when it circulated online last year, saying: “Only U.S.-born citizens (white) who live within 60 miles from Dallas, Texas (do not share with applicants). » The words in parentheses are not paraphrases; they appeared in parentheses in the publication, the Justice Department noted.
Arthur Grand Technologies was looking for someone to fill a “Salesforce Business and Insurance Claims Analyst position,” the Department of Labor said. The job was to be based in Dallas.
The business analyst position “would serve two clients, HTC Global, an information technology company based in Troy, Michigan, and Berkshire Hathaway, the multinational holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska,” the business analyst said. DOJ, citing the job posting.
What did federal agencies find?
The DOJ said Arthur Grand’s March 2023 registration violated the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Labor Department said the company also violated a longstanding executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating based on race, national origin and other protected characteristics.
In its separate agreement with Arthur Grand, the Labor Department says it also found other violations, saying the company did not have records tracking the demographic characteristics of job applicants, such as their gender, race or Ethnicity ; and that the company failed to post notices about workers’ equal employment opportunity rights in conspicuous locations.
“We are committed to holding federal contractors accountable for outrageous discriminatory practices like this ad,” said Acting Director Michele Hodge of the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). “Companies like Arthur Grand, which accept federal contracts, cannot have a ‘whites only’ recruiting process. »
The Department of Labor’s agreement with the company includes a form letter to send to people who have complained about Arthur Grand. They are told that if they want to participate in the agreement, they must sign a document stating in part: “I understand that AGT denies treating me illegally or unfairly in any way.”
By signing the document and receiving payment, the letter states, the plaintiffs also agree not to file a lawsuit against the company.
What does Arthur Grand say?
Rahmathullah stressed that Arthur Grand admitted no guilt or wrongdoing, telling NPR that the search firm agreed to the agreements between the DOJ and the Labor Party “solely to avoid the significant financial cost and prolonged disruption that ‘litigation would impose on our business’.
“Arthur Grand Technologies vehemently denies any culpability or wrongdoing in relation to the discriminatory job offer,” Rahmathullah said. The employment notice constituted an “unauthorized publication,” he added.
When the company became aware of what had happened, Rahmathullah said: “We took immediate and decisive action to ensure that this type of incident does not happen again, including the immediate termination of the employee responsible “.
The CEO added: “We sincerely apologize for any harm caused by this incident and are committed to making meaningful changes to maintain the trust of our community and stakeholders.”
The Justice Department acknowledged in its settlement agreement that the company denied approving the job offer, with Arthur Grand saying “the posted ad was generated by a disgruntled recruiter in India and was intended to embarrass the ‘business,’ according to the DOJ.
What is Arthur Grand Technologies?
This is an IT recruiting company based in Ashburn, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. The company’s listed address is a two-story office complex located approximately 10 miles north of Dulles International Airport. Its neighbors include dental and orthodontic offices and an insurance company.
“We’re proud of the fact that every leadership position in our company is held by people of color, and that more than 80 percent of our staff are also people of color,” Rahmathullah told NPR.
According to U.S. government records, Arthur Grand is certified as a disadvantaged small business on the federal contractor list.
To qualify for this status, the majority of the business must be owned by “one or more disadvantaged persons,” who must also be “socially and economically disadvantaged.”
“Each year, the federal government awards about 10 percent of all federal contracting dollars, or about $50 billion in contracts, to disadvantaged small businesses,” according to the Small Business Administration.