Instacart to Pay $5 Million to Settle Claims It Discriminated Against U.S. Workers

By Kelly Cloonan

Instacart will pay $5 million to settle claims by the Justice Department that it discriminated against U.S. workers by allegedly preferring workers from other countries with temporary employment visas.

According to the DOJ, the food-delivery platform allegedly made it harder for U.S. workers to apply for jobs it advertised through a foreign-worker visa program by requiring applicants to physically mail applications for the positions.

The practice broke from Instacart's standard recruitment process, which allowed electronic applications, the DOJ said.

The DOJ alleged the move discouraged U.S. workers from applying to the jobs, or meant they were not timely considered for the roles.

The allegations pertain to jobs advertised through the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program, which allows U.S. employers to sponsor workers for permanent resident status only after recruiting U.S. workers.

A spokesperson for Instacart said the company's practices complied with all applicable laws and regulations.

"Hiring and investing in American workers across our U.S. business is our priority, and we actively promote every role across many channels to ensure qualified U.S. candidates are always first in line for opportunities," the spokesperson said.

Instacart is the latest company to reach a settlement with the DOJ since it relaunched an initiative last year to protect U.S. workers from alleged misuse of foreign-worker visa programs. ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is among the companies that have agreed to similar settlements in recent months.

Under the settlement terms, Instacart will establish a fund of up to $4 million to compensate Instacart applicants as well as deterred applicants affected by the alleged discriminatory practices from December 2023 to February 2026, the DOJ said.

In addition, Instacart will pay $1 million in civil penalties to the U.S.

The agreement also requires Instacart to give U.S. workers fair opportunities to apply for jobs as part of the PERM recruitment process by posting the positions on its public career website and accepting electronic applications, as well as train personnel on its anti-discrimination obligations, revise its employment policies and be subject to monitoring and reporting requirements, the DOJ said.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2026 12:29 ET (16:29 GMT)