BELLEVUE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A prominent AI company with Washington offices is being forced to pay up over allegations of hiring discrimination.

The U.S. Department of Justice says their Civil Rights Division reached a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI earlier Tuesday, Aug. 4.

Both the software division, which is based in Bellevue, and its primary operations in San Francisco were accused of hiring temporary visa holders over U.S. citizens.

Investigators found that OpenAI utilized different hiring methods to recruit visa holders, such as mandating paper applications when other roles allowed electronic submissions.

Federal programs to hire visa holders are often used when companies are unable to find skilled U.S. workers.

The DOJ adds that companies still can’t discriminate against U.S. citizens, even if they choose to use the visa worker program.

Of the settlement total, $1.2 million will pay for civil penalties while the rest will go into a back-pay fund for those who were victimized by OpenAI’s hiring practices.