Instacart has agreed to pay $5 million to settle federal allegations that it discriminated against American workers by favoring temporary visa holders in hiring — the 15th such settlement under the Justice Department’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative. The deal with Maplebear Inc., which operates the grocery delivery platform, was announced October 20 by the DOJ and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
According to federal investigators, Instacart abused the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process — the system through which employers sponsor foreign workers for green cards — by forcing American applicants to physically mail paper applications while everyone else applied through the company’s normal electronic system. The scheme ran from December 2023 through February 2026.
$4 Million for Workers, $1 Million in Penalties
Under the settlement, up to $4 million will compensate affected applicants and people deterred from applying by the alleged practices, while $1 million goes to the US government as civil penalties. Instacart must also overhaul its hiring procedures: electronic applications for all, public job postings, anti-discrimination training and ongoing federal monitoring.
“This significant resolution marks the 15th settlement agreement the Civil Rights Division has reached under my leadership to protect U.S. workers,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. The DOJ said the paper-application requirement unlawfully burdened domestic candidates for jobs tied to visa sponsorship, where employers must first make a good-faith effort to hire Americans.
Part of a Wider Crackdown
The case is the latest in a DOJ-EEOC campaign — dubbed Project Firewall by the EEOC — targeting alleged preference for temporary visa holders in corporate hiring. Facebook and Apple have previously settled similar claims over their PERM practices.
Instacart said it prioritizes hiring American workers and maintained its practices complied with the law, but settled to keep its focus on the business. For corporate America, the message from Washington is unmistakable: PERM recruitment is under a microscope, and two-track application systems will be treated as discrimination.
Employment lawyers said the settlement’s monitoring requirements — among the strictest imposed in recent PERM cases — signal that the government intends to make an example of two-track hiring systems. Other tech employers are expected to audit their own sponsorship recruiting in response.
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