Apple agrees to $25 million settlement with Department of Justice over discriminatory employment practices

The Justice Department announced that it reached a settlement agreement with Apple Inc. to resolve accusations of unlawful discrimination in hiring and recruitment against both U.S. citizens and specific non-U.S. citizens during the PERM recruitment process. Apple is required to pay up to $25 million in backpay and civil penalties, marking the highest sum recovered by the department under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The department asserts that Apple engaged in citizenship status discrimination in recruitment for positions it hired through the PERM process, and that the company’s unlawful discrimination prejudiced U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, and those granted asylum or refugee status. Specifically, the department took issue with certain advertising and recruiting procedures for PERM positions that diverged from standard company policies.

Apple will be required to conduct more expansive recruitment for future PERM applications and be subject to a three-year period of monitoring by the department.