Feds reach $5M settlement with grocery delivery company for discriminating against American job applicants

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on Oct. 20 a $5 million joint settlement with Maplebear Inc., which operates the grocery delivery service Instacart, settling allegations that the company systematically discriminated against American workers in favor of foreign nationals.

Between December 2023 and February 2026, Instacart’s recruitment practices under the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process reportedly favored foreign nationals on H-1B visas over American workers, violating both the Immigration and Nationality Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

According to the DOJ’s and EEOC’s investigations, Instacart’s hiring practices “created additional burdens on U.S. workers” applying for open jobs, requiring American workers to mail physical job applications while allowing H-1B visa-holders to apply electronically online, so that many American job applicants were not “timely considered” as the company proceeded hiring foreign nationals.

“Today’s settlement makes clear that when employers erect unlawful barriers that harm American workers, the EEOC will act decisively,” EEOC Chairwoman Andrea Lucas said in a statement. “The EEOC is committed to holding companies accountable when they deny equal work opportunities to U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs. Discrimination against workers based on their American national origin has no place in our economy.”

Under the terms of the settlement, Instacart is establishing a $4 million fund to compensate American applicants and deterred American applicants impacted by the hiring practices and will pay a $1 million civil fine to the federal government.

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Instacart will also be required to post open jobs on its public hiring websites and allow American workers to apply online, revise and enforce its hiring policies, and train or re-train employees in anti-discrimination practices. The company will further be subject to federal reporting and monitoring requirements to ensure that American workers are not discriminated against.

Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon touted the settlement as the 15th achieved in the past two years to bar companies from illegally discriminating against American workers.

“Our record demonstrates that the Justice Department is holding companies who prefer workers with temporary employment visas accountable,” she said in a statement. “We will not stop fighting for U.S. workers until there is a fair playing field.”

Zeale News previously reported that OpenAI and a subsidiary entered a more than $3 million settlement agreement to resolve allegations of discriminating against American workers, while the federal government has sued other companies for anti-American discrimination.

The EEOC and DOJ sued the Oregon-based Advanced Technology Group, Inc. in August for reportedly allowing Mexican workers to harass American workers, abuse them with racial slurs, and mock them for not speaking fluent Spanish and sued Colorado-based Triad Solution Services, Pro Cleaning Services, and All Cleaning Service in July for allegedly rejecting job applications from American and white applicants.

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