The Department of Justice today entered into a settlement agreement with the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), a public, nonprofit university within the University System of Georgia.
The settlement resolves the Department’s determination that Georgia Tech violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by operating a job placement platform on which third-party employers paid to post advertisements related to its career fairs , which have unlawfully excluded certain non-U.S. citizens and restricted recruiting opportunities for certain non-U.S. citizens based on their citizenship status.
“Our nation’s higher education institutions must ensure that their employment platforms do not promote, facilitate, or enable unlawful discrimination based on citizenship,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will vigorously enforce the anti-discrimination mandate of the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure that college students are treated fairly and have equal opportunities to compete for internships and jobs.”
The department’s investigation began after a Georgia Tech student who was a lawful permanent resident filed a discrimination complaint with the Civil Rights Division. The student claimed that a bank advertised an internship only for U.S. citizens on Georgia Tech’s career services website. While investigating the student’s complaint, the department discovered additional unlawful, discriminatory advertisements on Georgia Tech’s job placement platform that discouraged or restricted certain non-U.S. citizens from applying. The department’s investigation also found that Georgia Tech routinely allowed employers to block students who are not U.S. citizens from applying for such positions through its platform.
Under the settlement agreement, Georgia Tech will pay a $500,000 civil penalty to the United States, change its recruiting practices, and revise its policies to promote compliance with the INA. In addition, Georgia Tech must ensure for three years that certain career services employees in its undergraduate and graduate programs are trained in the anti-discrimination provisions of the INA.
Over the past 14 months, the Department has received civil penalties totaling more than $1.6 million from 30 employers who used Georgia Tech’s recruiting platform to post job advertisements that included certain non-U.S. citizens, who were equal in abilities to US citizens were illegally excluded from work, such as: B. legal permanent residents, refugees and people who have been granted asylum by the federal government.
On June 16, 2022, the department reached an agreement with 16 employers; on September 21, 2022, the department reached an agreement with four employers; and on May 23, 2023, the department reached an agreement with an additional 10 employers.
This agreement is another example of the Civil Rights Division’s efforts to address the civil rights impact of automated platforms, particularly those that provide users with tools and filters that enable unlawful restrictions. On April 25, 2023, the Civil Rights Division released a joint statement with other federal agencies highlighting their commitment to protecting individuals with respect to artificial intelligence and automated systems (AI) that impact individual civil rights and equal opportunity can impact.
The Civil Rights Division’s Immigration and Employee Rights (IER) Section is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provisions of the INA. The law prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or placement for a fee; unfair documentation practices; and retaliation and intimidation.
For more information on how employers can avoid discrimination in hiring and recruiting, visit the IER website. Learn more about how IER protects workers’ rights in this video. For more information about protection from employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s employee hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for the hearing impaired). Call the IER Employer Hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for the hearing impaired). Register for a live webinar or watch an on-demand presentation. Email IER@usdoj.gov; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Sign up for email updates from IER.
