The Justice Department has reached a settlement with a Virginia-based technology staffing company that it says discriminated against permanent residents in favor of candidates on temporary work visas during a recent hiring process.
The settlement struck with Asta CRS Inc., a provider of information technology staffing and consulting services with offices in Ashburn, Virginia, and Greenbelt, Maryland, is one in a string of deals cut with various American companies as part of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative.
The program targets, investigates, and prosecutes companies that discriminate against U.S. workers in favor of temporary visa workers.
“When a company advertises a job by stating a preference for temporary visa workers, it deters qualified and available U.S. workers from applying and denies those U.S. workers equal opportunity to compete for that employment,” assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said in a statement. “Our message to workers is clear: If companies advertise a preference for temporary visa holders over U.S. workers, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable. This is especially important at a time when more U.S. workers may be seeking employment as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19.”
Federal prosecutors alledged that Asta’s Maryland office deliberately discriminated against U.S. workers “because of their citizenship status when it posted a job advertisement specifying a preference for non-U.S. citizens who held temporary work visas.”
The settlement with Asta is the ninth such agreement the DOJ has reached with companies that have committed similar offenses. So far, the department has recovered more than $1.2 million in back pay to affected U.S. workers and civil penalties to the United States.
The Immigration and Nationality Act bars companies from discriminating based on citizenship, immigration status, or national origin at any stage of the hiring process, which includes during the posting process for potential positions.
The Civil Rights Division said its investigation into similar instances of discrimination is open and is seeking to hear from candidates who feel they were discriminated against based on their legal working status.
