Facebook, accused of discriminating against Americans, pays $ 14 million

Facebook agreed on Tuesday to pay up to $ 14.25 million to settle lawsuits against US authorities accusing the group of reserving certain well-paid positions to foreign employees to the detriment of US citizens or permanent residents.

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The US Department of Justice filed a complaint at the end of 2020, believing that the social media giant had intentionally created a hiring system preventing qualified Americans from having a chance to know and stand for certain positions, by refusing for example online applications. Mark Zuckerberg's group was in fact reserving these positions for employees already present in the company on a temporary visa and eager to obtain a green card, the ministry accused. In his complaint, he referred to at least 2,600 positions posted between January 1, 2018 and September 18, 2019, at an average salary of $ 156,000 per year.

At the start of the year, the Ministry of Labor launched its own survey of the group's recruitment practices.

Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.

Up to 9.5 million to possible victims

In a message on Tuesday, the group believes they have followed the rules, but said they have reached these agreements to end the prosecution.

This allows Facebook

,

said a spokesperson.

The agreement with the Department of Justice provides in detail for a fine of $ 4.75 million and the payment of up to $ 9.5 million to potential victims of

because of their citizenship or status. their immigration status.

Mark Zuckerberg's group is also committed to training its employees more specifically in anti-discriminatory rules related to citizenship or migration status, to display job offers more widely, to accept CVs sent by email and more broadly. all applications sent by Americans.

According to the agreement reached with the Ministry of Labor, Facebook has also accepted audits of its practices.