The Instacart logo is displayed on a phone screen.
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Maplebear, the parent company of the San Francisco-based online delivery outfit Instacart, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle allegations that it discriminated against U.S. workers by preferring to instead hire people with temporary work visas.
The Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the settlement on Tuesday. It will require Instacart to pay a $1 million civil penalty and establish a $4 million fund to compensate “applicants affected by the discriminatory practices,” which allegedly occurred between December 2023 and February 2026, according to a news release .
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Per the DOJ, Instacart is alleged to have “created additional burdens on U.S. workers to apply for job opportunities,” in part by requiring some American applicants to mail back documentation, rather than send it electronically. “As a result,” the release states, “many of the U.S.…