US Court Decides Meta Must Face Discrimination Lawsuit Against US Workers

Meta Platform Inc., sued for bias in employing employees (photo: dock. meta platform inc.)

JAKARTA - The US Court of Appeal revived a lawsuit filed by a software engineer claiming that Meta Platforms Inc., a company owning Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, refused to hire him because it preferred paid foreign workers with lower wages.

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stated that the Civil War era law prohibiting discrimination in contracts based on "alienage" also applies to discrimination against US citizens.

The decision reverses the California federal judge's refusal over a lawsuit filed by Purushothaman Rajaram, a naturalized US citizen who says Meta prefers foreign workers with visas and cheaper salaries than American workers.

Rajaram is trying to represent a class that includes thousands of workers. Meta has yet to comment on this decision. In the court file, Meta denies the allegations and states that Rajaram failed to show that Meta intends to discriminate against US workers.

Daniel Low, Rajaram's lawyer, said that the bias towards US citizens was a significant problem in the tech industry. "We hope this decision will trigger more lawsuits trying to end such discrimination," Low said by email.

The 9th Circuit Court has never handled whether federal law, Part 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, provides protection from discrimination against recruitment for US citizens. The only other appeals court considering the matter, New Orleans-based 5th Circuit, said the law does not prohibit bias against US citizens in its 1986 decision. The divisions made by the 9th Circuit raise the possibility that the US Supreme Court could take this case if Meta appeals.

Conservative groups are increasingly citing Section 1981, which also prohibits racial discrimination in contracts, to challenge corporate diversity initiatives and the recruitment of foreign visa workers.

The decision on Thursday 27 June could be a major impetus for the plaintiffs in the increasing number of cases accusing US workers of bias, at least in California and eight other states covered by the 9th Circuit.

Unlike the Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a federal law banning workplace discrimination, the 1981 Section did not limit the amount of compensation plaintiffs could receive if they won the lawsuit, and did not require them to file a complaint with government agencies before filing a lawsuit.

Last year, Apple agreed to pay 25 million US dollars to settle a US government lawsuit accusing the tech giant of illegally choosing immigrant workers over US citizens and green card holders for certain jobs. The company denies wrongdoing.

Last month, a conservative legal group founded by former government official Donald Trump called for a federal investigation into alleged Tyson Foods practices that disproportionately employ foreign workers, including children and people who are in the US illegally. Tyson called the claim "completely untrue."