H-1B visa crackdown: Cloudera breaks silence as US bars tech giant from sponsoring Green Cards: ‘We don't discriminate’

Cloudera will be excluded from the PERM program for two years and pay $2 million under a settlement with federal agencies.

A software enterprise headquartered in Santa Clara consented to remit $2 million in compensation and accept a two-year exclusion from a program facilitating permanent residency acquisition for international workers, pursuant to an agreement negotiated with the Trump administration.

Cloudera agreed to pay $2 million and accept a two-year suspension from the PERM program after the Justice Department alleged discriminatory hiring practices against U.S. workers. (Representational Image)

The settlement, disclosed on Friday by the Departments of Justice and Labor, concludes an administrative proceeding concerning purported infractions of the permanent labor certification, commonly referred to as the PERM program, attributed to Cloudera Inc.

Justice Department calls out Cloudera Inc's discriminatory practices against domestic workers

The Department of Justice asserted in April that the organization engaged in discriminatory practices against domestic workers throughout its recruitment procedures, thereby violating provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The Department of Labor then implemented a suspension of Cloudera's participation in the PERM program through an unprecedented enforcement measure. In the preceding week, the agency also halted PERM processing activities for Microsoft Corporation, Adobe Incorporated, and additional technology companies in response to purported, though unspecified, infractions.

The recent suspensions provided legal practitioners and organizations with minimal insight into emerging enforcement priorities under the Trump administration. Preceding Department of Justice investigations and substantial settlement arrangements with organizations including Meta Platforms Incorporated, Apple Incorporated, and OpenAI continue to represent the most definitive indicators of prospective compliance obligations.

Cloudera's settlement agreement

As a component of the settlement agreement, Cloudera consented to contribute $1.4 million to a compensation fund designated for eligible American workers who were not evaluated for available employment positions, along with $600,000 in civil penalties. Furthermore, the company shall be subject to intensified oversight and supplementary reporting obligations to mitigate the risk of future infractions.

The administration said that the structure of this agreement will establish a precedent for subsequent enforcement proceedings.

“There are no exceptions: the Justice Department will hold accountable employers who discriminate against U.S. workers,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division stated in a statement. “This substantial settlement, in partnership with DOL, sends a strong signal to employers that the federal government will work together to ensure employers treat U.S. workers fairly.”

Cloudera issues statement

A Cloudera representative stated that the organization implemented swift remedial measures upon discovering that an email address used in its hiring procedure had been unintentionally restricted to staff members only, as per Bloomberg Law.

“Cloudera does not discriminate against anyone in making hiring decisions, and we remain firmly committed to fair, lawful, and open recruitment practices,” the spokesperson said.