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Meta accused of 'systematic preference' for visa holders

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Judge cites statistics, Meta settlement in 2021

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Meta not immediately available for comment

By Jonathan Stempel

Feb 25 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday said Meta

Platforms ( META ) must face a lawsuit claiming that the

Facebook and Instagram parent prefers to hire foreign workers

because it can pay them less than American workers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco said

three U.S. citizens who accused Meta of refusing to hire them

though they were qualified may pursue a proposed class action.

Meta and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests

for comment.

The plaintiffs -- information technology worker

Purushothaman Rajaram and software engineer Ekta Bhatia, both

naturalized U.S. citizens, and data scientist Qun Wang -- said

they each applied for several Meta jobs between 2020 and 2024,

but were turned down because of Meta's "systematic preference"

for visa holders.

Meta, based in Menlo Park, California, said there was no

proof it intended to discriminate, or would have hired the

plaintiffs if they were not U.S. citizens.

But the judge cited statistics that 15% of Meta's U.S.

workforce holds H-1B visas, which typically go to foreign

professionals, compared with 0.5% of the overall workforce.

She also cited Meta's October 2021 agreement to pay up to

$14.25 million, including a civil fine, to settle federal

government claims it routinely refused to consider American

workers for jobs it reserved for temporary visa holders.

"These allegations support the plaintiffs' overall complaint

that they were not hired because Meta favors H-1B visa holders,"

Beeler wrote.

The government had sued Meta in December 2020, seven weeks

before President Donald Trump ended his first White House term.

"We are hopeful that the lawsuit will help remedy the

favoritism towards visa workers that is common in the tech

industry," Daniel Low, a lawyer for the three plaintiffs, said

in an email. "Fully addressing the issue will require additional

enforcement or legislative reform."

Beeler had dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit,

which named only Rajaram as a plaintiff, in November 2022.

A divided federal appeals court revived the case last June,

saying a Civil War-era law barring discrimination in contracts

based on "alienage" protected U.S. citizens from bias.

Many conservative groups have cited that law, Section 1981

of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, in challenging diversity

initiatives in the workplace, which Trump also opposes.

The case is Rajaram et al v Meta Platforms Inc ( META ), U.S.

District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-02920.