Facebook will pay up to $14.25M to settle US employment discrimination claims

Facebook will pay up to $14.25 million to settle civil claims brought by the US government that the social media company discriminated against workers and violated other federal hiring rules, US officials said Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Two related settlements were announced by the US Department of Justice and the Department of Labor. The Justice Department announced last December that it was filing a lawsuit accusing Facebook of prioritizing hiring temporary workers, including those who hold H-1B visas, which companies would need to pay. Some allow foreign workers to be employed temporarily in certain occupations. This type of visa is widely used by tech companies.

Kristen Clark, assistant US Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, described the agreement with Facebook as historic.

“This represents the largest civil penalty ever imposed by the Department of Civil Rights in the 35-year history of the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” Clark told reporters, referring to a major US immigration law. recovered.”

The case focuses on Facebook’s use of so-called Permanent Labor Certification, called the PERM program.

The US government said Facebook refused to recruit or hire US employees for jobs that were reserved for temporary visa holders under the PERM program. It also accused Facebook of a “potential regulatory recruitment violation.”

Facebook will pay civil penalties under a $4.75 million settlement, as well as up to $9.5 million paid to eligible victims of discriminatory recruitment practices by the government.

News.Az

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