The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that Facebook Inc. has settled two civil cases which accused the company of refusing to hire U.S. workers by saving positions for people on temporary visas.

Last year, the DOJ sued Facebook for discriminating against the U.S. workforce in regard to its hiring practices. The claim stated that Facebook had hidden a total of 2,600 positions from U.S. workers and saved them for people on temporary visas such as the H-1B visa.

Facebook was accused of diverging from its “normal recruiting protocols” by not replying to emails for certain positions and not advertising those positions as it usually would. Usually, if a company hires someone with a temporary visa, it must prove that there were no suitable U.S. workers for the job. Since the jobs were hidden, this broke the law, said government officials.

The company has now been hit with a $4.75 million fine and has been asked to pay a further $9.5 million in damages to people who were victims of the discrimination. The total comes to $14.25 million, which likely won’t break the bank of a company seeing a huge growth in revenue.

Nonetheless, Facebook isn’t exactly a darling of the government right now, so more bad news focused on the company isn’t a good look. In relation to looks, reports just in late Tuesday say Facebook is going to change its company name very soon to something more in line with building a “metaverse” containing all of its products. Facebook has kept this hush-hush, reportedly even among some of its executives, but it could be revealed next week, according to The Verge.

“Facebook is not above the law, and must comply with our nation’s federal civil rights laws, which prohibit discriminatory recruitment and hiring practices,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Companies cannot set aside certain positions for temporary visa holders because of their citizenship or immigration status.”

Although the fine might seem small in comparison to Facebook’s impressive profits, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said it’s the largest fine and compensation it has handed out so far regarding the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision. Facebook has also been ordered not to discriminate in such a way again. The company was told it has 150 days to adhere to certain hiring practices.

In a statement, Facebook said it believed it had met the government’s standards in its hiring practices but also said it had agreed to end the litigation and move on. “These resolutions will enable us to continue our focus on hiring the best builders from both the U.S. and around the world, and supporting our internal community of highly skilled visa holders who are seeking permanent residence,” said the company.

Photo: Jakob Steinschaden/Flickr