Cox to pay $460,000 in penalties over discriminatory job advertisements

Cox job advertisements overview:

• Who: Cox Communications Inc. will pay nearly $460,000 in civil penalties as part of a recent settlement.
• Why: Cox allegedly engaged in unlawful hiring discrimination by posting job advertisements that imposed citizen status restrictions.
• Where: The Cox discrimination settlement was reached with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Cox Communications Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $460,000 in civil penalties as part of a recent settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Law360 reports.

According to the Cox discrimination settlement, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, found reasonable cause to believe Cox engaged in hiring discrimination by posting job advertisements that imposed unlawful citizen status restrictions.

At least 100 posted Cox job advertisements may have imposed unlawful citizen status restrictions, the DOJ says. Cox reportedly posted to a college career services platform that effectively excluded U.S. nationals, refugees and individuals granted asylum from being considered for job opportunities, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision.

DOJ launched Cox job advertisements investigation after student complaint

The DOJ reportedly launched its Cox discrimination investigation after a Georgia Tech student complained about a “U.S. citizens-only internship advertisement” on the university’s job recruitment platform.

The investigation found other allegedly discriminatory Cox job advertisements on the platform, as well as discriminatory posts from other employers.

The DOJ says these job postings “unlawfully excluded workers granted asylum or refugee status, lawful permanent residents and, in one instance, U.S. citizens.”

“The department also determined that Cox Communications used features of Georgia Tech’s online platform to deter and automatically exclude qualified students from applying because of their citizenship status.”

Cox denies any wrongdoing but agreed to the Cox job advertisements settlement to avoid protracted litigation, the settlement document states.

Cox discrimination settlement requires anti-discrimination training for recruiters

Under the terms of the Cox discrimination settlement, Cox has agreed to train its recruiting staff on the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The settlement also prohibits Cox from listing citizenship or immigration status designations in Cox job advertisements except when those restrictions are legally required.

The DOJ has reportedly reached more than 30 settlements with other employers over similar claims of hiring discrimination, securing about $2.5 million in civil penalties.

Apple Inc. also agreed to pay $25 million to settle DOJ allegations that it engaged in discriminatory hiring of workers based on citizenship status for its permanent labor certification program.

Earlier this year, a judge granted final approval to a $48 million price-fixing settlement with CBS, Fox and Cox. Cox agreed to pay $37 million to settle the class action lawsuit, which alleged the television networks conspired with U.S. broadcasters to artificially inflate the price of TV advertising.

Do you think the Cox job advertisements were discriminatory based on citizenship status? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

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