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 Secureapp Technologies LLC (Secureapp), a New Jersey IT recruiting and labor staffing company. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Secureapp violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by posting discriminatory job advertisements that solicited applications only from non-U.S. citizens who sought temporary work visa sponsorship or who had immigration statuses associated with certain employment-based temporary visas. 

“When employers invite applications only from candidates with specified immigration statuses, they deter individuals from applying 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 is committed to knocking down these unlawful discriminatory barriers.”

The department’s investigation determined that starting in January 2019 and continuing for more than a year, Secureapp posted at least 12 facially discriminatory job advertisements that sought only non-U.S. citizens seeking sponsorship to work or who already possessed an employment-based visa. In so doing, Secureapp deterred U.S. citizens and other workers with permission to work in the United States without sponsorship (including asylees, refugees and lawful permanent residents) from applying to the job advertisements and receiving fair consideration for the employment opportunities. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision generally prohibits employers from recruiting or refusing to hire workers based on their citizenship or immigration status.

Under the settlement, Secureapp will pay $26,000 in civil penalties to the United States. The agreement also requires Secureapp 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 to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER. View the Spanish translation of this press release here.