Feds accuse Silicon Valley firm of hiring bias
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit accusing a fast-growing Silicon Valley software company of systematically discriminating against Asian job applicants.
Palantir Technologies was co-founded by prominent tech financier Peter Thiel, with backing from an investment arm of the CIA, and was recently valued at $20 billion. The privately held company makes powerful data-analytics software used by U.S. military, intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, along with banks, insurance companies and other non-government clients.
The unusual lawsuit — which comes as Silicon Valley is grappling with broader criticism for a lack of diversity — claims Palantir “routinely eliminated” Asian job candidates during the resume-screening and telephone-interview stages of the company’s hiring process. The claims are based on a statistical analysis conducted by federal officials responsible for making sure government contractors comply with anti-discrimination rules.
Palantir denied the allegations Monday and said it will contest the suit. It argued in a statement that the government’s case “relies on a narrow and flawed statistical analysis relating to three job descriptions from 2010 to 2011.”