The US Labour Department is suing Oracle for paying white men more than their counterparts and for favouring Asian workers when recruiting and hiring for technical roles.

The Labour Department warned the lawsuit could cost Oracle hundreds of millions in federal contracts.

However Oracle claims that the case is “politically motivated” and based on “false allegations, and wholly without merit".

Oracle spokesman Deborah Hellinger said in a statement: "Oracle values diversity and inclusion, and is a responsible equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Our hiring and pay decisions are non-discriminatory and made based on legitimate business factors including experience and merit."

According to the lawsuit, Oracle America paid white male workers more, leading to pay discrimination against women, African American and Asian employees. The Labour Department also accused Oracle of favouring Asians for product development and other technical roles, resulting in discrimination against non-Asian applicants.

However, Oracle refused to comply with the Labour Department's investigation, which began in 2014 and has refused to provide compensation data for all employees, complete hiring data for certain business lines and employee complaints of discrimination.

As a federal contractor, Oracle is barred from discriminating based on race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or against military veterans. And Oracle, like any federal contractor, must allow the federal government to review records and information relevant to the company's compliance with equal employment laws administered by OFCCP.

In the last few months, the Labour Department appears to have become more aggressive in enforcement of Silicon Valley tech companies. It filed an administrative lawsuit alleging a pattern of discrimination against Asian job applicants at Palantir, a data mining company valued at $20 billion.

Coincidently that was co-founded by technology investor and Trump adviser Peter Thiel, so there might be some evidence of political malice. Although it would be a very brave Labour Department employee who thought it was wise to start purging the pro-Trump companies now that King Donald is in charge.

Earlier this month, the Labour Department filed a lawsuit to compel Google to turn over compensation data during an anti-discrimination audit. But Google said it balked at turning over the private information of employees.