Instacart has agreed to a $5 million settlement over claims that it favored temporary visa holders and put up barriers for U.S. job seekers, according to the Justice Department.
Instacart said its hiring followed U.S. law and that it settled so it could focus on its business. The San Francisco company said hiring American workers remains a priority and that it promotes jobs through many channels.
The case centers on the Permanent Labor Certification program, known as PERM. It lets employers sponsor temporary visa holders for permanent resident status after making a good-faith effort to recruit U.S. workers.
Employers cannot use that process to unfairly limit job chances based on citizenship or national origin.
Investigators found that Instacart’s mail-only practice for U.S. workers added hurdles for those seeking jobs listed through the program. Many who applied were not considered in time.
The citizenship claims fall under the Immigration and Nationality Act, while the national origin claims fall under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the Justice Department.
The EEOC found similar evidence. The agencies said the hiring practices favored people with temporary work visas over U.S. workers.
Under the deal, Instacart will set aside up to $4 million for people harmed by the hiring process from December 2023 through February 2026. That includes people who applied and others who were discouraged from applying.
A claims administrator will contact potential aggrieved individuals, and will determine eligibility for back pay and compensatory damage, the agencies said.
People who believe they were affected can email [email protected] until the claims handler creates a separate contact address. The agencies will pass that information along.
The company must post PERM jobs on its public careers website and allow U.S. workers to apply online. It must also update its hiring rules to meet federal protections against bias.
Staff must receive training each year on those protections. Instacart must appoint a monitor to watch its PERM program and submit reports showing whether it is following the deal.
“We will not stop fighting for U.S. workers until there is a fair playing field,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in the department’s release.
The agreement is the 15th reached under the department’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative since its restart in 2025. The effort targets employers accused of wrongly favoring workers with employment visas.
The EEOC called it its fourth public settlement since 2025 involving claims of bias against workers of American national origin.
Other large technology companies have reached similar deals. Apple agreed to a $25 million settlement in 2023, and Facebook agreed to pay $14 million in 2021 over hiring claims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
