Cloudera Inc. said it inadvertently restricted a hiring email address to internal messages, Bloomberg Law reported, offering its explanation after federal allegations led to a $600,000 penalty and $1.4 million back-pay fund.
A company spokesperson told Bloomberg Law that Cloudera took corrective action after learning the recruitment email address had inadvertently been limited to internal employees. The spokesperson said the company “does not discriminate against anyone” in hiring.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the settlement previously reported by EconoTimes Oct. 16. Under the agreement, which took effect Oct. 13, Cloudera must pay a $600,000 civil penalty and establish a $1.4 million back-pay fund for eligible U.S. workers.
In its complaint, DOJ alleged that Cloudera advertised at least seven jobs under the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program using an email address that rejected messages from outside the company. The agency said at least one U.S. worker received a delivery failure. The allegations were resolved by settlement, without a trial finding.
Cloudera denied the allegations and discriminatory intent in the agreement. The document records the company’s position that it voluntarily withdrew applications, stopped PERM processing and took corrective action after being alerted to a potential email problem.
PERM is a labor certification process generally used before an employer petitions for a foreign worker’s permanent residency. DOL uses it to assess whether qualified U.S. workers are available and whether hiring a foreign worker would affect wages and working conditions for similarly employed workers.
Cloudera must withdraw outstanding PERM applications tied to the email address. It cannot file new PERM applications or advertise PERM recruitment for 24 months after its most recent withdrawal. The agreement does not give that withdrawal date, so it does not establish when the restriction will end. It addresses PERM filings and recruitment advertising; it does not address H-1B filings.
Workers seeking back pay must contact DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section within 180 days of Oct. 13. The section must determine that a claimant is a protected individual with sufficient evidence of harm from the alleged discrimination. It must send Cloudera its final claimant list within 260 days of the agreement’s effective date.
