Instacart Agrees to $5 Million Settlement in Bias Probe
Instacart agreed Tuesday to a $5 million settlement with the Justice Department and the EEOC. The agencies alleged its green card hiring process discriminated against US workers.
- $4 million goes to a fund for affected job applicants.
- $1 million goes to the federal government as civil penalties.
- Agencies said PERM job applications had to be mailed, unlike standard online applications.
- Instacart says its practices were legal and it settled to stay focused.
Why it matters: PERM lets employers sponsor temporary visa holders for permanent residency after good-faith recruitment of US workers. Regulators are scrutinizing whether companies run that recruitment differently from normal hiring.
- Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon called it the 15th such settlement under her leadership.
- $3.2 million: OpenAI's August settlement over similar paper-application allegations.
How 7 sources split on this story
Where they split: Federal officials say Instacart intentionally burdened US applicants, while Instacart says its hiring complied with all applicable laws.
Left coverage, 2 sources: The left frames it as the latest in a string of tech-industry settlements over allegations of favoring visa holders, with Instacart's denial given prominence.
Right coverage, 3 sources: The right frames it as a win for American workers and for the Trump administration's crackdown on what it sees as abuse of the green card pipeline.
What’s next: Eligible applicants from December 2023 to February 2026 can claim from the fund.
- Instacart must post PERM jobs online, accept electronic applications and train staff.
- Jobs.Now, which flagged the listings, wants the Labor Department to require similar rules industry-wide.
- How many applicants will qualify for payments from the $4 million fund?
- Will the Labor Department change PERM advertising rules for all employers?
