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Apple has agreed to pay up to $25 million in back pay and civil penalties to resolve allegations that the company unlawfully discriminated against U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents in favor of foreign nationals seeking a green card .
The Justice Department announced the deal this week, which represents the largest award the department has recovered under the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The agency said it found that Apple’s recruiting practices discriminated against U.S. candidates and non-U.S. citizens, instead favoring Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM) beneficiaries. PERM, a U.S. government program, allows employers to sponsor foreign nationals with temporary green card visas after they meet certain requirements.
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The DOJ began investigating Apple in 2019 during the Trump administration and found that Apple engaged in a “pattern or practice of discrimination based on citizenship status” in hiring for positions it hired through PERM and that the Company’s unlawful discrimination against U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawfully impaired permanent residents, and individuals with asylum or refugee status.
FILE: The Apple logo is illuminated in a store (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader / AP Newsroom)
The department found that Apple did not advertise the positions it sought to fill through the PERM program on its external jobs website and required paper applications by mail rather than electronic applications, which it said resulted in almost always none or only a few applications were received from people who had a work permit does not expire.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Apple said it employs more than 90,000 people in the U.S. and “continues to invest across the country, creating millions of jobs.”
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“When we realized that we had inadvertently failed to comply with the DOJ standard, we agreed to a settlement to address their concerns,” the statement said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Capitol Hill despite not attending the Senate’s AI forum and called artificial intelligence an “opportunity” rather than a threat to humanity.
The agreement requires Apple to pay $6.75 million in penalties and set up an $18.25 million restitution fund for alleged victims of discrimination. Apple will also be required to ensure that PERM recruiting is closer to standard recruiting practices and must conduct “more expansive recruiting” for PERM positions – some measures have already been implemented, according to the DOJ.
In addition, employees are trained on anti-discrimination requirements and are subject to three-year monitoring.
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“Creating unlawful barriers that make it difficult for someone to seek a job because of their citizenship status will not be tolerated,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. “This resolution reflects the Civil Rights Division’s commitment to ending illegal discriminatory employment practices.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.