DOJ Settlement with OpenAI: $3.2 Million Penalty for Discriminating Against U.S. Workers in Favor of Visa Holders

On August 3, 2026, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division (Immigrant and Employee Rights Section) finalized a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI OpCo, LLC and its subsidiary Statsig, Inc. for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The DOJ found that the companies engaged in citizenship status discrimination in hiring during the permanent labor certification (PERM) process, preferring workers with temporary employment visas over U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents . This is the first major INA enforcement action against a leading AI company .

Alleged INA Violations

The DOJ found reasonable cause that OpenAI and Statsig violated 8 U.S.C. § 1324b, which prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. workers based on citizenship status . The investigation covered conduct starting no later than June 2023 and continuing until at least April 2025 . Specifically, the companies allegedly:

• Recruited and hired foreign workers on temporary employment visas (such as H-1B) for permanent positions without first advertising the opportunities to U.S. workers .
• Filed applications for permanent labor certification (PERM) on behalf of temporary visa holders without undertaking good-faith recruitment of the U.S. labor market .
• Imposed illegally restrictive recruitment methods that effectively excluded U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from applying .

The DOJ specifically found that OpenAI and Statsig "recruited and hired foreign workers to certain positions without advertising the opportunities to U.S. workers in a manner consistent with standard recruitment practices" . The settlement covers fewer than 10 PERM positions .

Specific Hiring Tactics Alleged by the DOJ

Investigators found that OpenAI and Statsig took unusual steps to discourage U.S. applicants, including:

• Not posting openings on the company's external job website .
• Requiring paper applications submitted by mail instead of accepting electronic submissions .
• Advertising job openings late at night, making them harder for U.S. workers to find .

These practices effectively funneled permanent positions toward workers already on temporary visas, bypassing the legal requirement that employers first test the U.S. labor market.

Financial Penalties

Component	Amount
Civil penalty to the U.S. government	$1.2 million
Back-pay fund for affected U.S. workers	Up to $2 million
Total settlement value	$3.2 million

The companies did not admit to wrongdoing as part of the settlement .

Three-Year Oversight Agreement

Under the settlement, OpenAI and Statsig agreed to :

• Submit to three years of DOJ monitoring of their hiring and PERM-related recruitment practices.
• Provide training to hiring and recruitment staff on INA anti-discrimination requirements.
• Revise their recruitment and hiring policies to ensure U.S. workers receive proper notice of permanent positions, including posting jobs on their public website and accepting electronic applications .
• Maintain and submit records of their PERM recruitment efforts to the DOJ for review.
• Comply with reporting and audit requirements throughout the oversight period.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated, "It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs" . The oversight aims to ensure the companies do not repeat the pattern of relying on the PERM process to favor temporary visa holders over U.S. workers .

Broader Enforcement History: INA Cases Against Big Tech

This case aligns with a consistent pattern of INA enforcement against major technology companies. The largest penalties came under the Biden administration, but enforcement has continued across administrations.

Facebook (Meta) — 2021

The DOJ and Department of Labor reached a record $14.25 million settlement ($4.75 million civil penalty + $9.5 million to affected workers) over claims that Facebook intentionally created a separate, non-public hiring process for temporary visa holders and refused to consider U.S. workers for more than 2,600 roles . This remains the largest INA hiring discrimination settlement ever obtained by the DOJ .

Microsoft — 2021

The DOJ settled with Microsoft over claims that the company discriminated against non-U.S. citizens during the early hiring process by demanding unnecessary specific immigration documents, including asking lawful permanent residents for more or different documents than legally permitted .

Trump Administration (2017–2021)

The DOJ's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section pursued several smaller-scale cases against tech and IT services firms during this period, but major Big Tech INA discrimination settlements accelerated notably in 2021 and beyond . Notably, the original DOJ lawsuit against Facebook was filed in December 2020, during the first Trump administration .

AI Hiring Discrimination — 2026

In February 2026, the DOJ obtained a settlement with Elegant Enterprise-Wide Solutions Inc. over allegations that the company posted job advertisements generated by an AI tool that included citizenship status restrictions not authorized by law . That settlement was the eighth under the IER's AI initiative .

Significance of the OpenAI Settlement

The OpenAI/Statsig settlement (2026) is the first major INA hiring discrimination enforcement action against a major AI company and comes under the second Trump administration. While smaller in dollar amount than the Facebook settlement, it establishes the precedent that INA anti-discrimination protections extend to the AI industry's PERM-based hiring practices . The case also signals continued enforcement focus on tech company hiring practices, regardless of the administration in power.