Meta is facing a lawsuit alleging that it prefers hiring foreign workers with H1-B visas over Americans. Why? Because they are more economical resources. As per the lawsuit, Meta prefers foreign workers as it can pay them less than local talent.
Purushothaman Rajaram, Ekta Bhatia and Qun Wang, IT worker, software engineer and data scientist, respectively, are the ones who have filed the lawsuit. All three are US citizens who had sought to be considered for various vacancies between 2020 and 2024. However, they failed to get the job even though they had the required qualifications. They have accused Meta of hiring foreign workers possessing H1-B visas instead of equally qualified and talented American applicants.
In November 2022, the lawsuit was dismissed, but then it was revived in June the following year. The claims were found to be valid because the law forbids discrimination on the basis of nationality or citizenship.
Meta calls these allegations false as there is no proof of the company discriminating against American workers on purpose. However, there is data available to show otherwise. About 15 per cent of the workforce at Meta comprises workers with H1-B visas say reports.
In the past Meta has settled a similar case where it was accused of hiring temporary visa holders from abroad instead of Americans. In fact, Meta had to cough up about $14.25 million to settle the lawsuit then.
