Lawsuit seeks to ban Google from US government contracts

The U.S. Labor Department is trying to bar Google from doing business with the federal government unless the internet company turns over confidential information about thousands of its employees.

The potential banishment is being sought in a Labor Department lawsuit filed Wednesday with the Office of Administrative Law Judges.

The complaint alleges that Google has repeatedly refused to provide the Labor Department with employee compensation records and other information as part of an audit designed to ensure the Mountain View, California, company isn't discriminating against workers based on gender or race.

Google says it provided hundreds of thousands of records in an attempt to comply with the Labor Department's requests, but has rebuffed some of the agency's demands as an invasion of employee privacy.