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from the Palantir-presents-possible-problems-picking-promotions-—-project-positivity dept.
Silicon Valley firm Palantir Technologies is being sued by the US government over alleged "systematic" discrimination against Asian applicants and members of staff.
A lawsuit has been filed which alleges that the firm has used discriminatory recruitment procedures since 2010.
The US Department of Labor is seeking compensation for those affected, including lost wages and promotions.
Palantir Technologies said it "firmly denied" the allegations.
"We are disappointed that the Department of Labor chose to proceed with an administrative action and firmly deny the allegations," the company said in a statement shared by The Wall Street Journal (subscription website).
"Despite repeated efforts to highlight the results of our hiring practices, the Department of Labor relies on a narrow and flawed statistical analysis relating to three job descriptions from 2010 to 2011."
The US Department of Labor has sued no company for discriminating against Americans.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 28 2016, @08:33AM
From what I see Asians tend to be overrepresented in many tech companies when compared to the general population.
And Palantir seems to be no different:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/technology/us-accuses-tech-firm-of-bias-against-asian-software-engineers.html [nytimes.com]
The government said Palantir’s behavior with Asian candidates included one example where software engineering jobs drew a pool of more than 1,160 qualified applicants. Of that number, 85 percent were Asian. Yet Palantir ultimately hired 11 Asian applicants and 14 non-Asian applicants.
“The likelihood that this result occurred according to chance is approximately one in 3.4 million,” the Labor Department said in its complaint.
FWIW I'm Asian. 11 out of 25 seems decent representation to me. Just because more Asians apply for the job doesn't mean you should hire more Asians. What does the Labor department want? 22 Asians out of 25 hired? Really? If so then perhaps someone should tell Harvard et all too: http://nypost.com/2015/12/29/from-nyc-to-harvard-the-war-on-asian-success/ [nypost.com]
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21669595-asian-americans-are-united-states-most-successful-minority-they-are-complaining-ever [economist.com]
There are plenty of Asians applying for such positions with top academic scores, excellent musician skills, maybe even some achievement in sports and social work, no history of anti-social behaviour or criminal records. So even if you eliminate all applications of those who don't pass such criteria, you might find the percentages skewed towards us Asians. Many of us Asians (or our parents) are used to competing against millions of other Asians, often in non-level playing fields (there's discrimination vs race or caste or religion in many Asian countries). We're like the superbugs or roaches that have survived harsher conditions. The USA is a relatively easy environment.
Should you then hire 85% Asians? It might not actually be good for the company. There are plenty of other important things that don't appear on CVs. Stuff like social connections and people skills can be important. Sometimes someone who is mediocre but has good ties with very many different people "who know people" is more important to a company than a genius when you've already hired plenty of geniuses.
So maybe this is the real reason?
The suit — and the proposed penalty — is a blow for Palantir, a company formed in 2004 and funded by well-known investors including Peter Thiel.
Perhaps someone should get the percentage of Asians applying to Google, Facebook etc vs the percentage actually hired and compare with Palantir's numbers. ;)