OpenAI and Statsig settle DOJ hiring discrimination claims over green-card sponsorships

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced Wednesday that OpenAI and its former subsidiary Statsig have agreed to a settlement resolving allegations that they circumvented U.S. hiring rules when sponsoring immigrant employees for permanent residence.

The companies will pay $3.2 million total, including a $1.2 million fine and $2 million set aside for restitution to U.S. citizens who applied for the roles and may have been harmed. They did not admit wrongdoing.

Federal investigators said the firms violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by failing to make good-faith efforts to recruit qualified U.S. workers before filing PERM applications for visa-holding employees.

The alleged tactics included keeping job openings off public boards, advertising on the radio only late at night, and requiring paper applications instead of electronic submissions.

The settlement imposes three years of department oversight over OpenAI's and Statsig's PERM hiring practices. The DOJ said fewer than 10 positions were affected.