Cloudera $2 Million Settlement, Who Can Claim Back Pay, the April 2027 Deadline and the 2-Year PERM Ban

Cloudera, Inc. has agreed to pay $2 million and stay out of the federal PERM green card program for 24 months to resolve allegations that it kept qualified U.S. workers from fairly applying for jobs tied to employment-based green card sponsorship. The deal includes a $1.4 million back-pay fund for eligible workers and a $600,000 civil penalty paid to the U.S. government.

Official agreement and contact: The signed settlement agreement is on the Department of Justice website at https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1465571/dl. There is no online claim form. Workers who believe they were affected must email [email protected] or use the DOJ Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) channels at https://www.justice.gov/ier.

Deadline: Eligible workers must contact IER within 180 days of the agreement’s effective date. The agreement’s last signature is dated October 13, 2026, which makes the calculated deadline April 11, 2027. Confirm it with IER and do not wait until the last day.

Cloudera Settlement: Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Company	Cloudera, Inc.
Agencies	U.S. Department of Justice (Civil Rights Division, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section) and U.S. Department of Labor
Total settlement obligations	$2,000,000
Back-pay fund	$1,400,000 for eligible U.S. workers
Civil penalty	$600,000 paid to the U.S. Treasury
PERM restriction	24-month self-debarment: no new ETA Form 9089 filings or PERM-related recruitment ads
Case references	United States v. Cloudera, Inc., OCAHO Case No. 2026B00044 (as reported); IER investigation nos. DJ# 197-11-1163 and 197-11-1177
Alleged conduct period	At least March 31, 2024 through January 28, 2025
Positions involved	Seven PERM-related technology positions
Who may qualify	Protected U.S. workers who tried to apply for the affected jobs and whom IER finds were victims of the conduct
Official settlement agreement	https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1465571/dl
How to contact IER	[email protected]; [email protected]; worker hotline 1-800-255-7688 (TTY 1-800-237-2515), Mon–Fri, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. ET
Contact deadline	180 days after the effective date; calculated as April 11, 2027
Online claim form or claims administrator	None identified in the agreement
Individual payment	Set by IER’s review; no guaranteed amount
Monitoring term	3 years of policy, training, reporting and audit obligations
Did Cloudera admit liability?	No. Cloudera denied the allegations and any discriminatory intent

Who May Qualify for the Cloudera Back-Pay Fund?

The $1.4 million fund is for people IER determines were protected individuals under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3) and victims of the discrimination described in the government’s case. You may qualify if:

• You are a protected individual under the citizenship-status provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• You attempted to apply for one of the affected PERM-related Cloudera positions during the relevant period (about March 31, 2024 to January 28, 2025).
• You followed the posted application instructions, including using the application email address listed in the advertisement.
• You can give IER evidence of the attempt, such as a bounce-back email or a saved job ad.
• IER finds that you were qualified, including work experience and a reasonable background check, as Cloudera requires for its employees.

Important: Being a U.S. citizen, or having applied to Cloudera at some point, does not automatically qualify you. The fund is not open to everyone who applied to Cloudera in 2024 or 2025, and the agreement does not publish a list of job titles or covered individuals.

Which workers are “protected individuals”?

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), protected individuals generally include U.S. citizens and nationals, certain lawful permanent residents, refugees and people granted asylum, subject to statutory conditions. For example, a lawful permanent resident who is eligible to naturalize but does not apply within the time the statute allows may lose protection. Holders of temporary work visas such as H-1B are generally not protected individuals under the citizenship-status provision. IER decides whether a particular applicant is protected.

How To Contact the DOJ About Cloudera Back Pay

There is no administrator website or form. The agreement sets up a process run by IER.

1. Contact IER promptly. Email [email protected] (the address named in the agreement), or use [email protected] or the worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (TTY 1-800-237-2515). You must make contact within 180 days of the effective date.
2. Describe your attempted application. Explain which position you sought, roughly when, and what happened when you tried to apply, including any delivery-failure notice.
3. Preserve evidence. Keep copies of application emails and bounce-backs, screenshots or copies of job ads, the position title or requisition number if you have it, your résumé and relevant work history, and any messages with Cloudera personnel. This is a practical list, not an official checklist, and IER decides what is sufficient.
4. Cooperate with the review. IER will examine your protected status, your evidence of an attempted application, your work experience and your compensation history. You must consent to a reasonable background check. If IER designates you a preliminary claimant, Cloudera has an opportunity to respond, and IER makes the final determination.
5. Do not contact Cloudera for a claim. If you do, Cloudera is required to direct you to IER and notify IER of the contact.
6. Watch for payment. After IER finalizes the list of claimants, payment is arranged. Back pay is treated as wages for tax purposes, with Cloudera handling employer-side obligations and issuing a Form W-2.

The fund is finite, and IER has discretion over the order of payments. Later-approved claimants may receive reduced or no payment if the fund runs out.

What Is the Cloudera Settlement Deadline?

The agreement gives eligible claimants 180 days from the effective date, which is the date the last party signed, to contact IER. The signature dates are October 8 (Cloudera), October 12 (Department of Labor) and October 13, 2026 (Department of Justice). Counting 180 calendar days from October 13 gives April 11, 2027. That date is our calculation from the signed agreement, not a separately published claim notice.

Date	Event
March 31, 2024 – January 28, 2025	Alleged recruitment period at issue
January 10, 2025	IER notifies Cloudera of a charge-based investigation (as reported)
March 14, 2025	IER opens an independent investigation (as reported)
April 28, 2026	DOJ files its complaint
May 12, 2026	Department of Labor announces a 180-day suspension of Cloudera’s PERM processing
October 8, 2026	Cloudera signs
October 12, 2026	Department of Labor signs
October 13, 2026	DOJ signs; effective date
October 16, 2026	DOJ and DOL announce the settlement (updated October 19)
April 11, 2027	Calculated deadline for claimants to contact IER
About 260 days after effective date	Target for IER to send Cloudera the final list of claimants
October 2029	End of the three-year monitoring term (calculated)

The agreement also has provisions that can extend certain later administrative steps if Cloudera misses required deadlines, and it separately addresses people IER identifies within 300 days. Do not rely on those to extend your own 180-day contact period.

How Much Could an Eligible Applicant Receive?

The total fund is $1.4 million, but the agreement does not promise an equal share. IER calculates back pay by comparing what the person would have earned in the position, such as wages, bonuses, 401(k) contributions and stock options, against what the person actually earned, then adds reasonable interest. The amount depends on the position, the compensation package, the person’s qualifications and mitigating earnings. No reliable individual payout range has been published.

What Did the Government Allege Against Cloudera?

The dispute concerns whether Cloudera gave qualified U.S. workers a real chance to compete for jobs tied to permanent labor certification. According to the agreement and the DOJ’s complaint:

• IER found reasonable cause to believe Cloudera engaged in a pattern or practice of citizenship-status discrimination in PERM-related recruitment.
• Cloudera did not post the affected positions on its public careers website the way it posted comparable non-PERM jobs.
• It directed applicants to a separate email address that could not receive messages from outside accounts, so U.S. workers who followed the instructions could not apply and were not considered.
• At least one U.S. worker received a bounce-back and filed a charge with IER.

Did Cloudera admit wrongdoing?

No. The agreement states that Cloudera maintained it complied with the law, denied IER’s allegations and said it acted without discriminatory intent. Cloudera also said it discovered the email problem, withdrew affected PERM applications and took corrective steps. A settlement resolves the government’s allegations without requiring anyone to treat each allegation as a court-proven fact. The case was brought through the administrative process before the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO), not as a lawsuit in federal district court.

This was reported as the 14th resolution under the DOJ’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative since its 2025 relaunch.

What Is PERM and Why Does It Matter for Green Cards?

PERM is the Department of Labor’s permanent labor certification process. For many employment-based green card categories, the employer must first show there are not enough able, willing, qualified and available U.S. workers for the job and that hiring the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers (see 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A)). The employer files ETA Form 9089 after completing required recruitment.

PERM is not itself a green card. It is one step, typically followed by an immigrant petition and then adjustment of status or consular processing. The Cloudera agreement targets the recruitment step. It does not change the rules for every employment-based green card. For other immigration litigation, see our guide to State Department Green Card Lawsuits Explained, which covers separate cases.

What Does the 24-Month PERM Ban Mean?

Cloudera must withdraw outstanding PERM applications recruited with the nonfunctional email address and self-debar from PERM for 24 months. During that time it cannot file ETA Form 9089 or post PERM-related recruitment ads. The 24 months run from the date of Cloudera’s most recent withdrawal of an affected application, which is not the same as the signature date.

This is specific to Cloudera. It does not stop other companies from sponsoring workers, does not ban Cloudera from employing workers on non-immigrant visas such as H-1B or L-1, and does not automatically cancel existing green card cases or immigration status. Employees with pending cases should speak with immigration counsel about how the stage of their own case is affected.

What Must Cloudera Change?

If Cloudera resumes PERM-related recruitment during the agreement’s term, it must recruit U.S. workers the same way it recruits for comparable non-PERM jobs. It must adopt a PERM recruitment policy, subject to IER approval, that includes:

• Posting PERM-related positions on internal and external careers websites alongside comparable non-PERM jobs.
• Accepting electronic applications through those websites.
• Not requiring email-only applications for PERM-related positions.
• Using state workforce agency application functions where available.
• Recording applications in its applicant-tracking system.
• Reviewing U.S. applicants in good faith without unlawful citizenship-status discrimination.

It must also train U.S.-based recruiting and HR staff, report to the government, and submit to an independent third-party audit over a three-year monitoring term. The penalty and compliance terms are meant to fix the process, not only pay for past conduct.

What Laws Apply to the Cloudera Settlement?

1. Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1324b

Section 1324b prohibits unfair immigration-related employment practices. The relevant provision, § 1324b(a)(1)(B), bars citizenship-status discrimination in hiring, recruitment and firing against protected individuals (defined in § 1324b(a)(3)). The statute covers employers with four or more employees for citizenship-status claims, and it is enforced by IER.

2. Charge and complaint process: 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(b)–(d); 28 C.F.R. Part 44

A person generally files a charge with IER within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act. IER can also open independent investigations, as it did here. If IER finds reasonable cause, it can file a complaint before an administrative law judge at OCAHO. In some circumstances a charging party can file directly with OCAHO if IER does not act within the statutory time. The Department of Justice’s regulations are at 28 C.F.R. Part 44.

3. Remedies: 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(g)

Available remedies include orders to stop the practice, hiring or reinstatement, back pay (limited to the two years before the charge was filed), civil penalties per person discriminated against, and training or compliance orders. Penalty amounts are adjusted for inflation by regulation.

4. PERM regulations: 20 C.F.R. Part 656

Part 656 governs permanent labor certification. Employers attest that the job opportunity is open to U.S. workers (20 C.F.R. § 656.10), follow the required recruitment steps (§ 656.17), and can face denial or debarment for fraud or willful misrepresentation (§ 656.31). Here, the Department of Labor suspended Cloudera’s PERM processing in May 2026, and the settlement provides for self-debarment for 24 months.

5. Labor certification requirement: 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A) and § 1153(b)

Employment-based green card categories that require labor certification, such as EB-2 and EB-3 (8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2) and (3)), are why PERM recruitment matters to both U.S. workers and sponsored foreign workers.

6. Other laws that may apply separately

Citizenship-status discrimination under § 1324b is distinct from national-origin discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which the EEOC enforces. An individual who believes they faced separate discrimination should get advice about their own situation. The agreement preserves IER’s authority to investigate conduct outside its scope and does not remove anyone’s right to file a charge.

Can Others Join the Cloudera Settlement?

This is a government enforcement settlement, not a consumer class action. There is no automatic class, public claims website or administrator. Current or former Cloudera employees, H-1B holders and people who applied for unrelated jobs do not automatically qualify. The agreement does not reach every possible claim against Cloudera, and workers who believe they experienced separate discrimination should seek guidance on their own circumstances.

What the Cloudera Settlement Means for Workers and Employers

For U.S. workers, it shows that employers cannot create barriers that keep qualified domestic applicants from being considered during PERM recruitment, and that there is a documented route to back pay for those who were shut out. For employers, the lesson is that PERM recruitment should mirror ordinary recruitment: the same websites, the same applicant-tracking systems and the same good-faith review. Separate or non-functional application channels can bring investigation, civil penalties, back-pay liability, monitoring and debarment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a Cloudera settlement claim form?

No. The agreement identifies no online claim form or claims administrator. Potentially eligible workers contact IER and provide evidence for review.

What is the Cloudera settlement deadline?

The agreement gives eligible claimants 180 days from its effective date to contact IER. Using the last signature date of October 13, 2026, that is April 11, 2027. Confirm it with IER.

Who receives the $2 million?

$1.4 million goes into a back-pay fund for eligible U.S. workers and $600,000 is a civil penalty paid to the U.S. Treasury. It is not a fund available to the general public.

How do I contact the DOJ about Cloudera back pay?

Email [email protected] or [email protected], or call 1-800-255-7688 (TTY 1-800-237-2515), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.

Will every U.S. citizen who applied to Cloudera get paid?

No. IER must find that you were protected, attempted to apply for an affected position, were qualified and were affected by the conduct covered by the agreement.

How long is Cloudera barred from PERM?

24 months, starting on the date of its most recent withdrawal of an affected PERM application.

Does the settlement affect existing green cards or H-1B employees?

Not automatically. The ban stops Cloudera from filing new PERM applications. It does not revoke existing status or cancel every pending case.

Did Cloudera admit wrongdoing?

No. The agreement states that Cloudera denied the allegations and any discriminatory intent.

Is back pay taxable?

Back pay is treated as wages, and Cloudera handles employer-side obligations and issues a Form W-2.

What law did Cloudera allegedly violate?

The DOJ alleged citizenship-status discrimination in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(1)(B). The Department of Labor separately handled PERM-related restrictions.

Should I contact Cloudera directly?

No. Contact IER. If you contact Cloudera, it must refer you to IER and tell IER about the contact.

Where can I get help?

Contact IER, and consider speaking with an employment or immigration attorney about your own situation. This article is not legal advice.

Bottom Line

Cloudera’s $2 million settlement requires a $1.4 million back-pay fund, a $600,000 civil penalty, a 24-month PERM ban and three years of monitoring. The fund is not for everyone who ever applied to Cloudera. It is for protected U.S. workers who tried to apply for the affected jobs and whom IER finds were affected. If you believe that describes you, contact IER soon, ahead of the calculated April 11, 2027 deadline, and gather your evidence now.

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Justice, “U.S. Departments of Justice and Labor Secure Settlement with Cloudera, Enforce Two-Year PERM Debarment & Back Pay Following Discrimination Against U.S. Workers,” October 16, 2026 (updated October 19): https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-departments-justice-and-labor-secure-settlement-cloudera-enforce-two-year-perm-debarment
2. U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Settlement Agreement, Cloudera, Inc.: https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1465571/dl
3. U.S. Department of Justice, “Civil Rights Division Sues Cloudera for Excluding U.S. Workers from Applying to High-Paying Technology Jobs,” April 28, 2026: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/civil-rights-division-sues-cloudera-excluding-us-workers-applying-high-paying-technology
4. U.S. Department of Labor, news release on enforcement actions against Cloudera Inc., May 12, 2026: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20260512
5. U.S. Department of Justice, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section: https://www.justice.gov/ier
6. Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1153(b), 1182(a)(5)(A), 1324b: https://uscode.house.gov
7. 20 C.F.R. Part 656 (Permanent Labor Certification): https://www.ecfr.gov
8. 28 C.F.R. Part 44 (Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices): https://www.ecfr.gov

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Eligibility, deadlines and payment amounts are determined by the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section and the terms of the signed agreement. AllAboutLawyer.com is a legal information website, not a law firm. Confirm the exact deadline and process with IER.