New York (AFP)

Facebook agreed on Tuesday to pay up to $ 14.25 million to settle lawsuits against US authorities accusing the group of reserving certain well-paid positions to foreign employees to the detriment of US citizens or permanent residents.

The US Department of Justice filed a complaint at the end of 2020, believing that the social media giant had intentionally created a hiring system preventing qualified Americans from having a chance to know and stand for certain positions, by refusing for example online applications.

Mark Zuckerberg's group was in fact reserving these positions for employees already present in the company on a temporary visa and eager to obtain a green card, the ministry accused.

In his complaint, he referred to at least 2,600 positions posted between January 1, 2018 and September 18, 2019, at an average salary of $ 156,000 per year.

At the start of the year, the Ministry of Labor launched its own survey of the group's recruitment practices.

“Facebook is not above the law and must comply with our country's civil rights,” Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.

In a message on Tuesday, the group believes they have followed the rules, but said they have reached these agreements to end the prosecution.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke January 7, 2021 in Wilmington, Delaware JIM WATSON AFP / Archives

This allows Facebook "to continue to focus on hiring the best workers, whether they come from the United States or elsewhere in the world, and to support (its) highly skilled visa employees who seek to obtain permanent residence, "said a spokesperson.

The agreement with the Department of Justice provides in detail for a fine of $ 4.75 million and the payment of up to $ 9.5 million to potential victims of "discrimination" on the basis of their citizenship or status. their immigration status.

Mark Zuckerberg's group is also committed to training its employees more specifically in anti-discriminatory rules related to citizenship or migration status, to display job offers more widely, to accept CVs sent by email and more broadly. all applications sent by Americans.

According to the agreement reached with the Ministry of Labor, Facebook has also accepted audits of its practices.

© 2021 AFP