Facebook to pay $14.25 million to settle U.S. employment discrimination claims

• Facebook will have to pay nearly 14.25 million to settled claims that it refused to hire U.S. workers for positions it set aside for H-1B visa holders

• The social media giant has entered a separate settlement with the Department of Labor over potential recruitment violations through a program that allows companies to offer jobs to temporary visa holders

Facebook Inc has agreed to pay $14.25 million to settle civil claims that the social media giant refused to hire U.S. workers for positions it set aside for temporary visa holders and violated federal recruitment rules the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

The two related settlements confirmed by Facebook.

Last December the Justice Department filed a lawsuit accusing social media giant of giving hiring preferences to temporary H-1B visa holder employees.

Kristen Clarke, assistant U.S. attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, called it a historic agreement.

"It represents by far the largest civil penalty the Civil Rights Division has ever recovered in the 35-year history of the Immigration and Nationality Act's anti-discrimination provision," Clarke said.

The lawsuit centered on Facebook's use of its permanent labor certification program known as PERM.

The U.S. government said the company refused to recruit American workers for jobs that had been reserved for H-1B visa holders under the PERM program and accused Facebook of "potential regulatory recruitment violations."

The company will pay a civil penalty of $4.75 million, and $9.5 million to eligible victims.

"While we strongly believe we met the federal government's standards in our permanent labor certification (PERM) practices, we've reached agreements to end the ongoing litigation and move forward with our PERM program," Facebook spokesperson said, mentioning that the company intends to "continue our focus on hiring the best builders from both the U.S. and around the world."

Facebook under microscope

The settlements come at a time when Facebook is facing increasing U.S. government scrutiny over other business practices.

Facebook received flak from U.S. lawmakers this month after a former company employee and whistle-blower Frances Haugen accused it of pushing for higher profits while being inconsiderate about user safety and released thousands of documents to back up his claims.

The Labor Department this year conducted audits of Facebook's pending PERM applications and uncovered other concerns about the company's recruitment efforts.

"Facebook is not above the law," U.S. Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said, and the Labor Department is "committed to ensuring that the PERM process is not misused by employers - regardless of their size and reach."

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