The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Team filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against California-based tech company Cloudera for allegedly violating the Immigration and Nationality Act by discriminating against U.S. workers in favor of foreigners on temporary visas.
“Employers cannot use the PERM sponsorship process as a backdoor for discriminating against U.S. workers,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon. “The Division will not hesitate to sue companies who intentionally deter U.S. workers from applying to American jobs.”
The legal complaint accuses the company of creating a recruitment and hiring process specifically designed to deter Americans from applying.
“Cloudera knowingly and intentionally set up a separate process, different than
their normal recruitment methods, that deterred U.S. workers from applying, due to the workers’ citizenship or immigration status,” says the complaint.
The company is accused of setting up an email address to receive applications that could not actually accept emails while sponsoring employees under the permanent labor certification program (PERM).
Under that program, an employer is allowed to sponsor a foreign worker, but only after attempting to hire U.S. workers.
Cloudera was hiring for high-paying positions with salaries ranging from $180,000-$294,000, while allegedly ignoring applications from U.S. workers.
They allegedly established an alternative recruitment process for seven positions they hoped to fill with foreigners.
According to the complaint, Cloudera U.S. Department of Labor on multiple occasions that they were unable to find qualified U.S. workers while intentionally sending U.S. applications to a faulty email address.
“This less-favorable treatment was Cloudera’s standard operating procedure from at least March 31, 2024, until at least January 28, 2025, and constituted a pattern or practice of citizenship status discrimination,” says the complaint.
The lawsuit requests a ruling ordering Cloudera to cease its allegedly discriminatory practices, to pay a civil penalty, and to pay back pay with interest to anyone who suffered lost or delayed wages due to discriminatory practices.
Good, bankrupt them