OpenAI to pay $3.2M settlement

The U.S. Justice Department said on August 4 that OpenAI OpCo LLC and its subsidiary Statsig Inc. agreed to a combined $3.2 million civil settlement over allegations they discriminated against U.S. workers during parts of the permanent labor certification process. The department said the companies preferred workers with temporary employment visas in recruiting tied to PERM, the system employers use when seeking to sponsor workers for permanent resident status. OpenAI denied the allegations in the settlement agreement, which says the deal is not an admission of wrongdoing. The resolution combines a $1.2 million civil penalty with a $2 million back-pay fund for affected workers. ### What exactly did the Justice Department accuse OpenAI of doing? The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said OpenAI failed to advertise PERM roles on its public careers website even though it normally posted other jobs there. The department also said the company required paper applications for PERM roles while allowing electronic applications for other openings. (justice.gov) Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said, “It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs.” The department said OpenAI also advertised some positions on late-night radio, which investigators said discouraged U.S. workers from applying. ### How many jobs were involved? The Justice Department said fewer than 10 PERM positions were at issue. (justice.gov) In the settlement agreement, investigators said they found reasonable cause to believe OpenAI engaged in a pattern or practice of citizenship-status discrimination in five PERM-related advertisements beginning no later than June 2023 and continuing until at least April 2025, while Statsig was tied to one PERM-related recruitment in July 2025. The August 13, 2025 investigation by the department’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section was followed by three charge-based investigations of OpenAI opened the same day and a separate charge-based investigation of Statsig opened on September 9, 2025, according to the agreement. ### What is PERM, and why does it matter here? The PERM program allows employers to sponsor workers for permanent resident status if they conduct good-faith recruitment and cannot find qualified U.S. workers, the Justice Department said. (justice.gov) That process is supposed to test the labor market before an employer moves ahead with sponsorship. In this case, the department said OpenAI and Statsig did not let U.S. workers apply to PERM-related jobs in the same way they handled normal recruiting. (justice.gov) Investigators said the extra burden of mailing paper applications was not required by the PERM process and did not occur in non-PERM recruitment. ### What did OpenAI agree to change? Under the settlement, OpenAI will pay $1.2 million to the U.S. Treasury and create a $2 million fund to compensate victims. (justice.gov) The company also agreed to post PERM jobs on its public careers site, accept electronic applications, train personnel on anti-discrimination rules under the Immigration and Nationality Act, revise employment policies, and submit to departmental monitoring and reporting. (justice.gov) The agreement says the term runs for three years from the effective date, defined as the date the last party signs it. Fox Business, citing the Justice Department, reported the case as part of broader scrutiny of how major technology companies handle hiring tied to immigration processes. ### Did OpenAI admit wrongdoing? The settlement agreement says OpenAI “denies and continues to deny” the Justice Department’s allegations and findings. (justice.gov) It also says the agreement must not be construed as an admission of any violation of law, wrongdoing or liability. The next concrete step is implementation: the companies must make the required payments, set up the victim compensation fund, and comply with three years of reporting and monitoring under the Justice Department agreement. (justice.gov 1) (justice.gov 2)