San Francisco-based OpenAI OpCo LLC and its software development subsidiary Statsig Inc. agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle allegations they discriminated against U.S. workers in favor of foreign workers during recruitment and hiring related to the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process, the U.S. Department of Justice announced August 4.
OpenAI and Statsig denied the allegations and the findings, the settlement said.
Under PERM, employers may sponsor foreign workers for permanent resident status if they recruit in good faith and can’t find qualified U.S. workers, DOJ explained in the announcement.
According to the settlement, investigators for DOJ’s Immigration and Employee Rights (IER) section, a component of the Civil Rights DIvision, found that during the companies’ PERM recruitment process, they didn’t advertise the jobs they sought to fill through the PERM program on OpenAI’s external website, even though their standard practice was to do so for other positions.
OpenAI and Statsig also allegedly required U.S. workers to submit applications for PERM-related positions by mail instead of letting them file electronically through the website, according to the settlement. Investigators determined the PERM process didn’t require this additional burden, and OpenAI didn’t require it for non-PERM recruitment, the settlement said.
OpenAI took other steps to discourage U.S. workers from applying, such as advertising positions on the radio late at night, DOJ added. Based on the findings, it charged the companies with allegedly violating the Immigration and Nationality Act by discriminating against U.S. workers because of their citizenship status, the agency said.
The payment includes $1.2 million in civil penalties and $2 million in potential back wages for victims of the alleged discrimination, according to the documents.
“While there were fewer than ten PERM positions at issue, the resolution amount reflects the harm to U.S. workers when they are shut out of applying for lucrative jobs,” DOJ said.
Before employers can hire a foreign worker to work in the U.S., they must get permission from various government agencies, including obtaining certification through the U.S. Department of Labor and petitioning the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a visa, a DOL guidance explains. The system is designed in large part to ensure U.S. workers are not adversely affected by the hiring of foreign workers, the guidance says.
Pursuant to this goal, DOJ has obtained several settlements, including OpenAI’s, under its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative since relaunching the initiative in 2025, the agency said.
In a June 2025 settlement, California tech recruiter Epik Solutions agreed to pay $71,916 to resolve allegations it discriminated against U.S. workers by placing numerous job ads stating that certain positions were open only to applicants with H-1B visas.
Federal regulators have long sought ways to curb abuses attributed to hiring foreign workers. For instance, to reduce employers’ incentive to displace American workers with low-wage foreign visa holders, DOL requires them to commit to offering a foreign worker wages at prevailing rates.
In March, in line with the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration, DOL proposed increasing the prevailing wage rates for H-1B workers, a change that would make it more costly to hire them.
However, in June, a federal judge struck down President Trump’s attempt to require employers to pay a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions. The judge said the fee amounted to an unlawful tax, and Trump did not have the authority to impose it.