Kforce Pays $900,000 to Settle Justice Department Claims of Hiring Discrimination
Agreement also requires training, revised employment policies and monitoring
In a Press Release dated November 15, 2023, the US Department of Justice announced that it had reached a resolution of claims that staffing giant Kforce discriminated in hiring on the basis of citizenship. It appears that the controversy arises out of job postings requiring US citizenship, rather than the terminology "must be authorized to work in the US." The release states in part:
The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Kforce Inc. (Kforce), a staffing agency with 36 offices across the United States. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that Kforce violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against non-U.S. citizens with permission to work in the United States and excluding them from job opportunities based on their citizenship status.
“Companies cannot unlawfully exclude people with permission to work in the United States from job opportunities because of their citizenship status,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to hold those accountable who engage in behavior that runs afoul of our nation’s federal civil rights laws.”
The department’s investigation determined that from at least March 1, 2019, to Feb. 28, 2022, Kforce distributed job advertisements that contained unlawful hiring restrictions based on citizenship status or otherwise screened out candidates based on their citizenship status. These actions harmed workers who have been granted asylum or refugee status, and lawful permanent residents by unlawfully deterring them from applying to the job advertisements and failing to meaningfully consider those who did apply.
In the Agreement, copy attached below, Kforce did not admit wrongdoing, and maintained that:
(a) a substantial portion of its consultant population is derived from the international community outside of the United States; (b) its DE&I initiative is robust and is woven into the overall firm strategy, including the establishment of eight employee-led affinity groups; (c) it remains committed to operating within its Commitment to Integrity, Kforce’s Code of Conduct, which incorporates and emphasizes its critical polices, including anti-discriminatory policies; and (d) as a federal government subcontractor there are occasions where a citizenship restriction is otherwise required in order to comply with law, regulation, or executive order, or required by Federal, State, or local government contract, or Attorney General determination, but Kforce chose not to contest given the time and expense already involved in this matter.
Citizenship discrimination is not as well-known as other types, although in recent years the Justice Department has been doing its best to change that. Another issue sometimes seen in this area is the employer asking to see an applicant's green card, rather than asking for "documentation that you are authorized to work in the United States." The Justice Department considers it wrongful to ask for a particular type of documentation, as I wrote about earlier this year: Staffing Firms Still Falling into Paradoxical I-9 Trap .
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