The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against Cloudera Inc., a data software firm valued at over $5 billion, alleging the company intentionally excluded American workers from high-paying technology roles.
The complaint, filed April 28 by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, claims Cloudera violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against U.S. workers. The company favored individuals with temporary employment visas. The lawsuit is a major component of the Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, which focuses on companies that illegally bypass domestic talent.
The DOJ alleges that Cloudera created a “separate and unequal” recruitment process specifically designed to deter U.S. workers from applying for roles paying between $180,000 and $294,000 annually. According to the filing, Cloudera earmarked these positions for current employees seeking permanent labor certification (PERM) sponsorship, essentially shielding the jobs from the American public.
“Employers cannot use the PERM sponsorship process as a backdoor for discriminating against U.S. workers,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “The Division will not hesitate to sue companies [that] intentionally deter U.S. workers from applying to American jobs.”
Cloudera allegedly instructed U.S. applicants to submit resumes to a dedicated email address—amerijobpostings@cloudera.com—that was intentionally configured to block external messages, resulting in bounce-back errors for American job seekers. Federal law requires employers to recruit U.S. workers in “good faith” before sponsoring a foreign national for permanent residency.
The DOJ contends Cloudera certified to the Department of Labor that it found no qualified U.S. workers, despite intentionally preventing them from applying via the proper email address. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties, back pay with interest for affected applicants, and an order for Cloudera to cease these discriminatory practices.
Cloudera, which was taken private in 2021 in a $5.3 billion acquisition by KKR and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, has denied the allegations. A company spokesperson stated that they are “proud to hire American workers” and believe the government’s claims “misunderstand both our hiring processes and our intent.” By publicly pursuing Cloudera, the DOJ is signaling that the tech industry’s reliance on temporary visa holders for permanent roles will be subject to strict recruitment audits throughout 2026.
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