The settlement will put to rest claims that Law Resources followed Arnold & Porter's directions to screen out from a document review project U.S. citizens with dual citizenship and non-U.S. citizens with work authorization. The purported conduct violates the Immigration and Nationality Act.

"The United States of America is the land of opportunity, and the United States government remains committed fully to the fundamental principle that in this country, all people authorized by law to work should be able to pursue happiness by earning a living without suffering the indignity of discrimination because of where they came from," assistant attorney general Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement. "Our law protects this ideal in many ways, including by prohibiting unlawful citizenship status restrictions in hiring."

Washington, D.C., lawyer Temitope Ogunrinu, a U.S. citizen with dual citizenship, originally filed the charge against Law Resources with the Immigrant and employee rights section of the Department of Justice in November 2018, and later amended the matter to add Arnold & Porter.

An investigation revealed that the firm and the staffing company implemented a policy of excluding dual citizens and non-citizens with authorization to work in in the U.S. It also found that Arnold & Porter improperly interpreted the requirements of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and that Law Resources improperly retaliated against Ogunrinu, blacklisting her from future assignments after she objected to the restriction.