IT firm fined for ‘whites only’ job ad
- Arthur Grand Technologies job ad specified US-born white citizens only
- Fine, employee training part of the settlement
- The company blames a disgruntled employee
(NewsNation) — A tech firm has agreed to pay the federal government over a job posting that asked only for applicants who were white and born in the United States.
Arthur Grand Technologies, a tech firm based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Ashburn, Virginia, agreed to $38,500 in fines and compensation to job applicants who complained about the ad.
The March 2023 online ad for a business analyst included a note that said, “Only Born US Citizens (White) who are local within 60 miles from Dallas, TX [Don’t share with candidates].”
“We are committed to holding federal contractors accountable for outrageous discriminatory practices like this advertisement,” said Labor Department official Michele Hodge. “Companies like Arthur Grand, that accept federal contracts cannot have a ‘whites only’ hiring process.”
In a news release, the Justice Department said Arthur Grand will also be required to “train its personnel on the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)’s requirements, revise its employment policies and be subject to departmental monitoring.”
Arthur Grand CEO Sheik Rahmathullah, in an email to CNN, said the job posting came from a disgruntled employee sent from their personal email.
“Upon discovering this, we took immediate and decisive action to ensure that this type of incident will never happen again, including the immediate termination of the responsible employee,” Rahmathullah said.