The U.S. Department of Labor and Justice reached an agreement with a Virginia-based IT staffing company after finding job postings were discriminatory. Pictured here is the Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C.
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A job posting that included race and citizenship requirements, along with a “not to be shared with candidates” stipulation, led Virginia-based IT staffing firm Arthur Grand Technologies Inc. to reach a settlement with the U.S. government.
Under the arrangement, Arthur Grand will pay a civil penalty of $7,500 and a total of $31,000 in fines to 31 people who complained about the post. The company, which is minority-owned and designated as a disadvantaged enterprise by federal contractors, will also be monitored to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws.
“Shamefully, in the 21st century, we continue to see employers use ‘whites only’ and ‘American-born only’ job postings to exclude otherwise qualified applicants of color,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Chief Kristen Clarke said.
The Labor Department agreement states that Grande “neither admits nor denies any violations.” But Arthur Grand CEO Sheik Rahmathullah said in a message to NPR that his company “strongly denies any crime or wrongdoing.” He said the job posting was made by a rogue employee.
What does the recruitment notice say?
The job ad, which sparked outrage and accusations of discrimination when it circulated online last year, said: “Only born U.S. citizens [White] Locals within 60 miles of Dallas, Texas [Don’t share with candidates]”. The words in brackets are not paraphrases; the Justice Department noted that they appear in brackets in the post.
Arthur Grand Technologies is seeking candidates for “Salesforce Business Analyst and Insurance Claims positions,” the U.S. Department of Labor said. This job is located in Dallas.
The business analyst position “will provide services to two clients, HTC Global, an information technology company headquartered in Troy, Miss., and Transnational Holdings, headquartered in Omaha, Neb.,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in citing job postings. Inc. Berkshire Hathaway”.
What did federal agencies find?
The U.S. Department of Justice said placing Arthur Grand on the list in March 2023 violated the Immigration and Nationality Act. The company also violated a long-standing executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, national origin and other protected characteristics, the Labor Department said.
In a separate agreement with Arthur Grande, the Labor Department said it found other violations, saying the company had no records tracking job applicants’ demographic characteristics, such as gender, race or ethnicity; Post signs advising workers of their equal employment opportunity rights.
“We are committed to holding federal contractors accountable for egregious discriminatory practices like this ad,” said Michele Hodge, acting director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). “Companies like Arthur Grand that receive federal contracts cannot have a ‘whites only’ hiring process.”
The Labor Department’s agreement with the company includes a form letter that will be sent to people who file complaints against Arthur Grande. They were told that if they wanted to participate in the agreement, they would have to sign a document that read, in part: “I understand that AGT denies treating me in any way unlawfully or unfairly.”
The letter stated that by signing the document and receiving payment, the complainant also agreed not to file a lawsuit against the company.
What did Arthur Grande say?
Rahmatullah stressed that Arthur Grande did not admit any crime or wrongdoing, telling NPR that the staffing firm agreed to the agreement between the Justice Department and Labor “simply to avoid the consequences of litigation for our company.” significant financial losses and long-term disruption.
“Arthur Grande Technologies strongly denies any crime or wrongdoing related to the discriminatory job posting,” Rahmatullah said, adding that the job posting was an “unauthorized release.”
Rahmatullah said that when the company was informed of what happened, “we immediately took decisive action to ensure that such an incident does not happen again, including the immediate dismissal of the employees involved.”
The CEO added: “We sincerely apologize for any harm caused by this incident and are committed to making meaningful changes to maintain the trust and confidence of our community and stakeholders.”
According to the Justice Department, which acknowledged in the settlement that the company refused to approve the job posting, Grande claimed that “the posted ad was created by a disgruntled recruiter in India to make the company Embarrassing”.
What is Arthur Grand Technology?
This is an IT staffing company headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. Its neighbors include dental and orthodontic practices and an insurance company.
“We are proud that all senior leadership positions in our company are held by people of color and that more than 80 percent of our employees are people of color,” Rahmatullah told NPR.
According to U.S. government records, Arthur Grand is certified as a Small Disadvantaged Business on the federal contractor roster.
To obtain this status, a majority of the company’s shares must be owned by “one or more disadvantaged persons,” who must also be “socially and economically disadvantaged.”
“Each year, the federal government awards approximately 10 percent of federal contract value, or approximately $50 billion in contracts, to small disadvantaged businesses,” the Small Business Administration said.
