The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced on Aug. 4, 2026, that it secured a combined $3,200,000 settlement with OpenAI OpCo LLC, a San Francisco, California-based artificial intelligence company, and its subsidiary, Statsig Inc., a Bellevue, Washington-based software development company. The settlement addresses allegations that the companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against U.S. workers and preferring workers with temporary employment visas when hiring and recruiting during the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process.
It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs,
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the settlement ensures that OpenAI redresses harm and changes its recruitment practices so that U.S. workers receive a fair opportunity for highly sought-after technology positions.
Alleged recruitment practices
The Department’s investigation found that OpenAI did not advertise positions it sought to fill through the PERM program on its external job website, although its standard practice was to do so for other jobs. The company also required applicants to mail paper applications for positions advertised as part of PERM recruitment, while allowing electronic applications for other positions. The investigation further found that OpenAI took other steps to discourage U.S. workers from applying, including advertising positions on the radio late at night. Fewer than ten PERM positions were at issue, but the resolution amount reflects the harm to U.S. workers when they are shut out of applying for lucrative technology jobs.
Under the settlement, OpenAI will pay $1,200,000 in civil penalties to the United States and establish a $2,000,000 back-pay fund to compensate victims of the companies’ discriminatory practices. OpenAI will also post PERM positions on its public career website and accept electronic applications so that U.S. workers have fair opportunities to apply. The agreement requires the company to train personnel on the INA’s anti-discrimination requirements, revise employment policies, and comply with departmental monitoring and reporting requirements to prevent future discrimination.
The PERM program allows employers to sponsor workers for permanent resident status when they conduct good-faith recruitment but cannot find qualified U.S. workers. During that process, however, companies cannot illegally discriminate against U.S. workers based on citizenship status. The settlement is the thirteenth reached since the Department relaunched its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative in 2025 to enforce the INA’s prohibition on citizenship-status discrimination against companies that illegally discriminate in favor of workers with employment visas. Under the initiative, settlements obtain civil penalties for each violation and may include back pay when warranted, along with training, policy changes, and requirements that employers stop restricting consideration for job opportunities based on citizenship status without a lawful reason.