New York: A New Jersey-based IT firm will have to pay $25,500 in civil penalties to the US for posting discriminatory job advertisements and seeking job applications only from India.
Infosoft Solutions Inc, an IT recruiting and contracting company operating as KForce Tech LLC, violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by posting six discriminatory job advertisements between July 2021 and August 2021.
"When employers advertise jobs only to applicants from a certain country or who need temporary visas, they discourage all other eligible workers and deny them a fair chance to be considered," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
The department's investigation determined that Infosoft's advertisements solicited applications only from non-US citizens who needed visa sponsorship, or who already had an employment-based temporary visa. One of the six advertisements also required the candidates to be from India.
In doing so, the company deterred workers with permission to work in the US without sponsorship, such as asylees, refugees, lawful permanent residents, US nationals and US citizens from applying to the job advertisements and being fairly considered for the employment opportunities.
Apart from paying the settlement, Infosoft will now be required to train its recruiters on the INA's requirements, revise its employment policies and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.
"The Civil Rights Division will not tolerate national origin or citizenship status discrimination, and is committed to knocking down these unlawful discriminatory barriers," Clarke said.
The Civil Rights Division's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.
Among other things, the statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.
The INA's anti-discrimination provision generally prohibits employers from recruiting or refusing to hire workers based on their citizenship status or national origin.