US govt files lawsuit against Facebook

Washington DC [US], December 4 (ANI): The United States Justice Department on Thursday announced a lawsuit against Facebook Inc. for favouring the immigrants and alleged discrimination against US workers.

The lawsuit alleges that Facebook refused to recruit, consider, or hire qualified and available US workers for over 2,600 positions, instead, reserved for temporary visa holders it sponsored for permanent work authorization (or "green cards") in connection with the permanent labor certification process (PERM), according to an official release.

According to the lawsuit, Facebook intentionally created a hiring system in which it denied qualified US workers a fair opportunity to learn about and apply for jobs, instead sought to channel to temporary visa holders the company wanted to sponsor for green cards.

"The Department of Justice's lawsuit alleges that Facebook engaged in intentional and widespread violations of the law, by setting aside positions for temporary visa holders instead of considering interested and qualified US workers," said Assistant Attorney General Eric S. Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division.

Assistant Attorney Dreiband added that this lawsuit follows a nearly two-year investigation into Facebook's practices and a "reasonable cause" determination by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

The department's lawsuit alleges that beginning no later than January 1, 2018, and lasting until at least September 18, 2019, Facebook employed tactics that discriminated against US workers and routinely preferred temporary visa holders (including H-1B visa holders) for jobs in connection with the PERM process.

As per the complaint, rather than conducting a genuine search for qualified and available U.S. workers for permanent positions sought by these temporary visa holders, Facebook reserved the positions for temporary visa holders because of their immigration status.

The complaint also alleges that Facebook sought to channel jobs to temporary visa holders at the expense of US workers by failing to advertise those vacancies on its careers website, requiring applicants to apply by physical mail only, and refusing to consider any US workers who applied for those positions.

"In its investigation, the department determined that Facebook's ineffective recruitment methods dissuaded U.S. workers from applying to its PERM positions. The department concluded that, during the relevant period, Facebook received zero or one US worker applicants for 99.7 percent of its PERM positions, while comparable positions at Facebook that were advertised on its careers website during a similar time period typically attracted 100 or more applicants each," the release said.

The United States' complaint seeks civil penalties, back pay on behalf of U.S. workers denied employment at Facebook due to the alleged discrimination in favor of temporary visa holders, and other relief to ensure Facebook stops the alleged violations in the future. (ANI)