Meta has been sued over allegations that it systematically prioritises hiring foreign workers on H-1B visas over qualified American citizens to cut labour costs.
An H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US employers to hire foreign workers for a specific period of time.
According to Reuters on Wednesday, Laurel Beeler, a US magistrate judge, allowed the lawsuit, filed by three American citizens, to proceed as a proposed class action.
The plaintiffs — Purushothaman Rajaram, an IT worker; Ekta Bhatia, a software engineer; and Qun Wang, a data scientist — alleged that Meta rejected them for multiple job applications between 2020 and 2024 due to its preference for hiring H-1B visa holders.
Beeler highlighted data showing that 15 percent of Meta’s US workforce consists of H-1B visa holders, compared to a national average of 0.5 percent.
She also referenced Meta’s 2021 agreement to pay $14.25 million in fines and back pay after the U.S. government accused it of refusing to consider American workers for roles reserved for visa holders.
“These allegations support the plaintiffs’ overall complaint that they were not hired because Meta favors H-1B visa holders,” she wrote.
Meta denied the claims, calling them “baseless,” and vowed to “vigorously defend” itself in court.
The company argued that there is no evidence proving it deliberately discriminated against US citizens or that the plaintiffs would have been hired if they were not American.
The lawsuit comes amid significant changes at Meta.
Meta recently laid off five percent of its workforce due to performance issues and increased executive bonuses by 200 percent.