Social media giant Facebook has agreed to pay a $ 14.25 million fine for discriminating against Americans applying for jobs at the company, according to US officials. The amount is determined by agreement between the parties to the dispute, Facebook and the federal government.
Facebook’s employment policy violates federal recruiting rules, US officials said. As a result of the negotiations, two agreements were reached with the Ministries of Justice and Labor.
The Justice Department last December accused Facebook of preferential treatment of hiring foreign temporary workers at the expense of Americans.
“Facebook is not above the law,” said Sima Nanda, director of legal affairs.
Largest civil punishment in history
US Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke called the Facebook deal historic. The amount charged to the companies was called the largest civil fine under anti-discrimination law in the 35-year history of the Immigration and Citizenship Act (INA).
The Washington authorities also accused Facebook of “potential violation of hiring rules.” “While we firmly believe that we are up to federal government standards (…), we have reached an agreement to end the ongoing dispute and move forward,” a Facebook spokesman explained. The company will continue to hire top talent from both the US and around the world, he said.
Meanwhile, American tech blog Verge announced that Facebook intends to adopt a new name and change its services and products.
According to Verge, the head of the giant Mark Zuckerberg will announce this on October 28 at the company’s annual conference. However, the disclosure of the project may occur earlier. In response, Facebook said it would not comment on “rumors or speculation.”