FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 22, 2023
Justice Department Secures Settlement with New Jersey IT Recruiting Firm to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claims
The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Infosoft Solutions Inc., a New Jersey IT recruiting and contracting company operating as KForce Tech LLC. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Infosoft violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by posting six discriminatory job advertisements that solicited applications only from non-U.S. citizens who needed visa sponsorship and, in one case, also sought applicants only from India.
“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 Civil Rights Division will not tolerate national origin or citizenship status discrimination and is committed to knocking down these unlawful discriminatory barriers.”
The department’s investigation determined that between July 2021 and August 2021, Infosoft posted at least six job advertisements inviting applications only from applicants who wanted sponsorship to work in the United States 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 United States without sponsorship (such as asylees, refugees, lawful permanent residents, U.S. nationals and U.S. citizens) from applying to the job advertisements and being fairly considered for the employment opportunities. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision generally prohibits employers from recruiting or refusing to hire workers based on their citizenship status or national origin.
Under the settlement, Infosoft will pay $25,500 in civil penalties to the United States. The agreement also requires the company 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’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.
Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Find more information on how employers can avoid citizenship status discrimination on IER’s website. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify); or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public can also call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email IER@usdoj.gov; sign up for a free webinar; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe for email updates from IER. View the Spanish translation of this press release here.
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Download sa_kforce_48-770_fnl_clean_ocred.pdfTopic(s): Labor & EmploymentCivil RightsComponent(s): Civil Rights DivisionCivil Rights – Immigrant and Employee Rights SectionPress Release Number: 23-588
Updated May 22, 2023Original Article
