The Justice Department has secured a combined $3,200,000 settlement with OpenAI OpCo LLC and its subsidiary Statsig Inc., resolving allegations that the companies discriminated against U.S. workers during the Permanent Labor Certification process. The Civil Rights Division announced the agreement, which is the thirteenth settlement under the Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative since the Department relaunched it in 2025.
PERM is the mandatory first step in most employment-based green card cases in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. Before an employer can sponsor a worker for permanent residence, it must test the U.S. labor market through good-faith recruitment and show that no qualified U.S. worker is available for the position. The INA permits that process but prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. workers based on citizenship status while conducting it.
The Department’s investigation found that OpenAI treated PERM-related job openings differently from its ordinary hiring. According to the announcement, OpenAI did not advertise positions it sought to fill through the PERM program on its external job website, even though posting there was its standard practice for other roles. The company required applicants for PERM-advertised positions to mail paper applications, while permitting electronic applications for other openings. Investigators also found the company advertised PERM positions on the radio late at night. The Department characterized these as steps that discouraged U.S. workers from applying.
Fewer than ten PERM positions were at issue. The Department said the size of the resolution reflects the harm to U.S. workers when they are shut out of applying for lucrative technology jobs rather than the raw number of positions involved.
Under the settlement, OpenAI will pay $1,200,000 in civil penalties to the United States and establish a $2,000,000 back-pay fund to compensate victims of the discriminatory practices. The company must post PERM positions on its public career website and accept electronic applications going forward. The agreement also requires OpenAI to train personnel on the INA’s anti-discrimination requirements, revise its employment policies, and submit to departmental monitoring and reporting. Those obligations run for three years.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said it is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs, and that the settlement ensures OpenAI redresses harm and changes its recruitment practices.
For sponsored workers, the case is a reminder that PERM compliance risk sits with the employer but the consequences can reach the employee. Recruitment defects can force an employer to restart the PERM process, which means a new recruitment cycle, a new labor certification, and in many cases the loss of an earlier priority date. Workers in the PERM pipeline have reason to confirm that their sponsoring employer is advertising the role through its ordinary channels and accepting applications the same way it does for every other opening.
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