Virginia-based tech firm settles allegations over whites-only job listing

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia tech company is paying $38,500 to settle claims that it discriminated by posting a job listing seeking white, U.S.-born candidates for an opening as a business analyst.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it had reached a settlement agreement with Arthur Grand Technologies, an information technology firm in Ashburn, Virginia.

The company listed the business analyst job online in March 2023, specifically seeking “Only Born US Citizens (White) who are local within 60 miles from Dallas, TX (Don’t share with candidates).”

“It is shameful that in the 21st century, we continue to see employers using ‘whites only’ and ‘only US born’ job postings to lock out otherwise eligible job candidates of color” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s civil rights division in a statement. “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.”

In the settlement agreement, the company said the ad was “generated by a disgruntled recruiter in India and was intended to embarrass the company,” and that it never intended to dissuade non-citizens from applying.

Arthur Grand did not return a call and email Tuesday seeking comment.

The settlement includes a $7,500 penalty to settle a Justice Department investigation and $31,000 as part of a settlement with the Labor Department to compensate individuals who filed complaints alleging they were discriminated against by the advertisement.

The agreement also requires Arthur Grand to train its personnel on the requirements of the federal hiring and discrimination laws and revise its employment policies.

In 2019, another northern Virginia tech firm, Cynet Systems, apologized after posting an online ad seeking “preferably Caucasian” applicants for an account manager job in Florida.