The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, alleging it discriminated against U.S. workers in favor of temporary visa holders.
The DOJ claims that for most of 2018 and 2019, Facebook refused to hire qualified U.S. workers for over 2,600 positions. Instead, the company reserved the jobs for foreigners with temporary visas.
The complaint said Facebook did this by “failing to advertise those vacancies on its careers website, requiring applicants to apply by physical mail only, and refusing to consider any U.S. workers who applied for those positions.”
A DOJ official said, “Our message to workers is clear: if companies deny employment opportunities by illegally preferring temporary visa holders, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable.”
The DOJ says this also hurts temporary visa holders. They often have limited job mobility—meaning they’re more likely to stay with a company until their status changes—and that could take decades.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and back pay for domestic workers who were allegedly denied employment. The goal is to make sure Facebook doesn’t discriminate against U.S. workers in the future.
