Labor Department Sues Start-Up Co-Founded by Peter Thiel for Discrimination

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Labor Department Sues Start-Up Co-Founded by Peter Thiel for Discrimination

The Obama administration has filed a lawsuit against Palantir Technologies, the start-up co-founded by gay Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel which does big data analysis for the military and US government counter-terrorism groups and financial groups.

The Department of Labor filed suit against Palantir, alleging that the firm discriminated against Asian applicants in screenings and interviews, Reuters reports:

In one example cited by the Labor Department, Palantir reviewed a pool of more than 130 qualified applicants for the role of engineering intern. About 73% of those who applied were Asian. The lawsuit, which covers Palantir’s conduct between January 2010 and the present, said the company hired 17 non-Asian applicants and four Asians.

“The likelihood that this result occurred according to chance is approximately one in a billion,” said the lawsuit, which was filed with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

The majority of Palantir’s hires as engineering interns, as well as two other engineering positions, “came from an employee referral system that disproportionately excluded Asians,” the lawsuit said.

Said OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu in a statement: “Federal contractors have an obligation to ensure that their hiring practices and policies are free of all forms of discrimination. Our nation’s taxpayers deserve to know that companies employed with public funds are providing equal opportunity for job seekers.”

Thiel, who brought down Gawker Media for outing him by bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s multi-million dollar lawsuit against the company, and told the Republican National Convention that he’s “proud” to be gay, recently made headlines when he reportedly told friends that Donald Trump promised to nominate him to the Supreme Court.

Reuters adds: “Since January 2010, Palantir has been a party to federal government contracts worth over $340 million, the lawsuit said.”

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