Washington: Facebook will pay up to $ 14.25 million to complete the civil claim brought by the US government that social media companies discriminate against workers and violate other federal recruitment rules, US officials said on Tuesday.
Two related settlements were announced by the US Department of Justice and the Ministry of Manpower.
The Justice Department announced last December that it filed a lawsuit that accused Facebook to provide recruitment preferences to temporary workers, including those who hold the H-1B visa that allows companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in certain jobs.
Such visas are widely used by technology companies.
Kristen Clarke, Ahtorney Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Ministry of Justice, called an agreement with Facebook Historic.
“This represents so far the largest civil penalty for the civil rights division that has recovered in a 35-year history of the provisions of the anti-discrimination immigration and nationality,” Clarke said in a call with reporters, referring to the main US immigration law.
This case is centered on the use of Facebook for what is called permanent labor certification, called the Perm program.
The US government said that Facebook refused to recruit or hire US workers for the work provided for temporary visa holders under the Perm program.
It also accused Facebook of “violations of potential regulations.” Facebook will pay civilian penalties under the completion of $ 4.75 million, plus up to $ 9.5 million for victims who meet the requirements of what is called the discriminatory government of recruitment.