class action accuses Meta of favoring foreign workers for lower wages
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London: A software engineer’s proposed class action was revived by a US appeals court on Thursday. The software engineer claimed that Meta Platforms had declined to hire him because it preferred to hire lower-paid foreign workers.
In a 2-1 decision, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco held that prejudice against US citizens is covered by a Civil War-era statute that forbids discrimination in contracts based on “alienage.”
The ruling overturns the dismissal of a case filed by US citizen Purushothaman Rajaram, who claims that Meta hires less expensive visa holders instead of American workers for jobs. The lawsuit was filed in California. Rajaram is running for office to represent thousands of workers in this class.
A request for comment from Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was not immediately answered. The corporation has refuted any misconduct in court documents, claiming Rajaram was unable to prove Meta’s intention to discriminate against US workers.
Bias against US residents, according to Rajaram’s attorney Daniel Low, is a serious issue in the tech sector.
In an email, Low stated, “We anticipate that this ruling will lead to more lawsuits seeking to end such discrimination.”
The question of whether US residents are protected from hiring discrimination under federal law—Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866—had never before been considered by the 9th Circuit.
The sole other appeals court to review the case was the 5th Circuit, an appeals court situated in New Orleans, which declared the legislation doesThe US Supreme Court may hear the case if Meta files an appeal, given the division the 9th Circuit established on Thursday.
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In order to oppose businesses’ diversity initiatives and the hiring of foreign visa workers, conservative groups have been citing Section 1981, which also prohibits racial discrimination in contracts.
At least in California and the eight other states the 9th Circuit covers, the ruling on Thursday may be of great assistance to plaintiffs in an increasing number of cases alleging bias against US workers. Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not the same as Title VII of the statute, which forbids job discrimination.
In order to resolve a US government lawsuit alleging the tech company improperly gave preference to immigrant workers over US citizens and holders of green cards for specific occupations, Apple agreed to pay $25 million last year. The business denies any misconduct.
Last month, Tyson Foods was accused of hiring disproportionately foreign workers, including juveniles and those in the US illegally, according to a conservative legal group created by former Trump administration officials. The group called for a federal inquiry into the claims made by the group. The claims were deemed “completely false” by Tyson.
