DOJ Sues Facebook for Its Preference for Foreign Workers

When we hear “discrimination” in a professional setting, what first comes to mind is usually the lack of equal opportunities for minorities and foreign workers. However, a recent lawsuit against Facebook, Inc. fights against the inequality faced by American workers.

December 3rd, 2020, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Inc. for discriminating against American workers and preferring foreign workers during their re-cruiting process.

The Department of Justice had been collecting evidence in the past two years. It pointed out that from January 1st, 2018 to September 18th, 2019, Facebook routinely preferred visa holders, including H-1B holders, for jobs connected with the PERM process.

The Department believes Facebook did not grant American applicants the same opportuni-ties as foreign applicants. According to statistics from the Department of Justice, Facebook gave more than 2,600 opportunities with average salaries of over $156,000 to foreign workers instead of American workers.

“Is it not the companies’ right to decide whom to employ?” you may ask. In fact, there are rules and regulations that pertain to this matter. Employers must place job advertisements in 2 Sunday editions of a local newspaper with wide circulation.

There are other ways for employers to fulfill this rule, such as attending a job fair, posting on the company’s website about the position, etc. If the company receives applications from any American worker that qualifies the position’s criteria, the company must interview the applicant.

The Department of Justice accuses Facebook of failing to comply with the above rules and taking procedures that make the application process less accessible to Americans, such as requiring applications to be mailed physically. These factors hurt the employment opportunities of U.S. workers.

The Department of Justice states that during 2018-2019, Facebook received at most one U.S. worker application for 99.7% of its PERM positions.

“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. Our message to all employers — including those in the technology sector — is clear: you cannot illegally prefer to recruit, consider, or hire temporary visa holders over U.S. workers.” Said Assistant Attorney General Eric S. Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division.

The outcome of the lawsuit is still yet to be determined. For sure, this case will act as a warning for many other Silicone valley moguls to be more cautious during the recruiting process in the future.

 

Facebook“偏爱”外籍员工，司法部状告法院

说到工作中的歧视，我们大多都会最先想到少数族裔，或外籍人员收到的不公平待遇。但最近的一个官司反而是为了作为“弱势群体”的美籍员工打响。

十二月三日，美国司法部以不公平对待美籍员工为由起诉Facebook Inc.。起诉的原因是Facebook在招聘时“偏向”外籍员工，消极招聘美籍员工。司法部指出，Facebook把超过2千600份平均薪资15万6千美元的工作留给外籍工作者，让许多美籍员工流失了收到offer的机会。

司法部对脸书下手也算是“蓄谋已久”。过去两年间，司法部一直在搜寻有关证据，发现2018年1月1日至2019年9月18日，Facebook五次三番地给H-1B及其他身份的外籍员工申请永久身份，并且在招聘过程中更青睐H-1B及其他外籍身份的工作者，没有给予美国员工同等的机会。

招聘什么样的员工难道不是企业的自由吗？还真不是。美国移民法对给外籍员工办理移民绿卡的企业规定：这些雇主必须在州立劳工局，及报纸上发布招聘广告。如果找到合格的美籍应聘者，公司必须为这些应聘者提供面试。

只有按照规则流程刊登广告，为美籍应聘者提供同等机会，但依然无法找到合适员工的情况下，公司才可以招聘外籍员工。Facebook就没有按照要求颁布招聘广告。司法部还指出，Facebook的其他手段，例如要求申请者用纸质邮件申请职位的行为，更加减少了美国公民的机会。

根据司法部统计，2018-2019年间，Facebook 99.7%的职位都只收到了最多一份来自美籍员工的申请。Facebook这波胳膊肘往外拐的操作还真是有了奇效。。司法部如今认定Facebook没有积极寻找美籍员工，让他们受到了不平等待遇。

司法部还喊话了其他企业：“如果企业通过非法偏好临时签证持有者来拒绝就业机会，司法部将追究他们的责任。我们向所有雇主—包括科技行业的雇主—传达的信息很明确：与美国员工相比，你不能非法的倾向于招聘、考虑或雇佣临时签证持有者。”

司法部大概对许多企业，尤其是硅谷的科技产业公司的“小聪明”一直心知肚明。Facebook树大招风，所以这次先用他们开刀，杀鸡儆猴，警告其他企业要给予美籍员工平等的工作机会。

Facebook吃官司是跑不了了，接下来怎么判，还要等进一步消息。Facebook跌的跟头算是给其他硅谷巨头提了个醒，未来对外籍员工的招收制度也大概率会发生改变。