Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, settled with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $5,000,000 in a national origin discrimination case. The lawsuit alleged that Instacart created additional burdens for U.S. applicants applying to positions that were part of the “Permanent Labor Certification” (PERM) process. The PERM program allows employers to sponsor temporary visa holders for permanent residence status as long as they made good-faith efforts to recruit U.S. workers.
The investigation found that Instacart required U.S. workers to mail in their applications instead of having an option to apply electronically, which was their typical process for other positions. Due to the time delay, many U.S. applicant’s applications were not received in a timely manner for review.
As part of the settlement, Instacart will pay $4,000,000 to affected applicants and $1,000,000 to the U.S. government. They will also be required to update their practices to allow electronic applications for positions under PERM, provide training on non-discrimination, and be subject to monitoring and reporting obligations.
This settlement is another reminder of this administration’s focus on national origin and anti-American bias. It is the 15th settlement by the Justice Department since they relaunched their Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative in 2025 and the second settlement in October related to hiring processes for PERM positions – earlier this month, the Civil Rights Division and Department of Labor settled with Cloudera, Inc. on allegations of discrimination against U.S. workers applying for positions in the PERM program.
The settlement with Instacart is also in line with the Administration’s Project Firewall initiative which seeks to protect American workers through enforcing Title VII’s prohibition on national origin discrimination. As part of that initiative, the EEOC released technical assistance guidance on national origin discrimination in November 2025 and has promised “[i]ncreasing enforcement of employment antidiscrimination laws against employers that illegally prefer non-American workers.”
Since then, the Administration has resolved several cases involving alleged anti-American bias, including an April 2026 settlement where the DOJ alleged an employer’s job advertisements preferred temporary visa holders over American citizens. And earlier this month, the EEOC filed a subpoena enforcement action as part of its investigation into whether a well-known car manufacturer failed to hire or promote non-Koreans at its Alabama and Georgia sites.
We expect this to continue to be an area of focus in investigations. Companies should continue to monitor their employment practices to ensure compliance with Title VII and other laws protecting U.S. workers. It is important to review recruiting, selection and compensation processes from beginning to end making sure they are compliant, with close scrutiny on potential processes that may be biased against U.S. workers or create additional burdens.