Palantir Technologies, a Peter Thiel-founded big data outfit which claims the SEC among its clients, will pay $1.66 million to settle a US government complaint that it discriminated against Asian job applicants.
The Department of Labor accused Palantir of discrimination against Asian applicants for engineering positions at its Palo Alto site.
The firm will pay the $1.66 million in back wages and other monetary relief - including the value of stock options - to the affected applicants and also make job offers to eight of the people.
Palantir told Bloomberg that it has not admitted liability, adding: "We continue to stand by our employment record and are glad to have resolved this case."
Co-founded by Donald Trump-backer Peter Thiel in 2004, Palantir grew out of the software used by online payment provider PayPal to detect fraudulent transactions. In 2015 it completed a massive $450 million funding round that values the company at $20 billion.
Among its financial services deals is a five year, $90 million contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission to help the watchdog sniff out insider trading. It also has a joint venture with Credit Suisse focussed on identifying rogue bankers.