AllianceIT, a staffing services company based in Pleasanton, California, reached an agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle the complaint against it.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Immigrant and Employee Rights (IER) Section alleged that AllianceIT violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The Justice Department’s complaint comes after an IER conducted an investigation to determine whether AllianceIT committed unfair employment practices. The IER concluded that the California-based staffing company engaged in a single instance of citizenship status discrimination hiring.

The IER investigation found that AllianceIT favored temporary foreign visa workers over U.S. workers when it posted a job advertisement for an IT position. The job advertisement specifically stated that the IT position is for only foreign students with an F-1 visa and optional practical training (OPT).

Therefore, the staffing company is discouraging and/or excluding qualified U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, and other protected individuals from applying to the advertised IT position.

DOJ will not tolerate companies discriminating against U.S. workers

In a statement, Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said, “Companies cannot place U.S. students at a disadvantage for job opportunities by advertising a hiring preference for foreign students with visas."

"The Department of Justice will vigorously enforce the law to ensure that employers are held accountable whenever they discriminate against U.S. students or other U.S. workers because of their citizenship.”

Terms of the settlement agreement between AlianceIT and DOJ

Based on the settlement agreement, AllianceIT denied that its job advertisement intends to commit intentional citizenship status discrimination. It is voluntarily entering into the agreement to resolve the IER investigation.

AllianceIT agreed to train its employees regarding the anti-discrimination provision of the INA and to change its policies and procedures to comply with the law.

The staffing company also agreed to be subject to a two-year Justice Department monitoring including submitting regular reports.

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