Employer Lessons From Facebook’s Anti-U.S. Bias Settlement

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Labor (DOL) separately resolved claims against Facebook concerning its use of the permanent labor certification program known as Program Electronic Review Management (PERM). In a coauthored article for Law360, labor and employment partner Scott Wright, counsel Beth Carlson and associate Sylvia Bokyung St. Clair discussed compliance with PERM requirements, given the significance of the settlement.

First, the authors outlined the Immigration and Nationality Act and the PERM process, as well as the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section’s (IER) investigation of Facebook’s recruitment and hiring practices. Next, they examined what could be learned from the settlement. The authors described five ways the case provides insight into how the DOL may adjudicate PERM applications and what facts it may focus on when auditing PERM applications.

Overall, the authors recommended that employers sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residence through the PERM process, particularly companies that do this regularly, should immediately evaluate their recruitment methods to determine if they may be at risk.

The full article is available for Law360 subscribers.