DOJ brings suit against Facebook for discriminating against US workers News
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DOJ brings suit against Facebook for discriminating against US workers

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review brought suit against Facebook Thursday for hiring discrimination. The suit claims that Facebook discriminates against American workers, exclusively hiring temporary visa holders through its permanent labor certification process (PERM).

The PERM program works to hire from inside the company, creating permanent jobs for employees who approach Facebook and let them know that their temporary visa is about to expire and that they would like to stay on permanently. These positions are not advertised online and do not accept applications online like the rest of their open positions. Rather, the applicants are invited to send in their application via mail. However, the DOJ claims that in reality, if a US citizen were to apply for the position, Facebook would still not consider them because the jobs simply exist for temporary visa holders. They claim the entire process is discriminatory against US workers.

The DOJ claims that Facebook is in violation of Department of Labor policies, which state that when hiring for PERM jobs all qualified US workers must be considered and if a qualified US worker exists they should be hired instead of the temporary visa holder. Labor also requires that the hiring process for PERM jobs be similar to the process for standard jobs. In turn, the DOJ claims that Facebook violates this because they do not advertise for PERM jobs online and do not recruit the same way.

The suit claims pattern or practice discrimination for failing to consider US workers, failing to hire US workers, and discriminating during the recruiting process. The suit asks that Facebook cease and desist from these “illegal” practices, that they pay civil damages, and that they give backpay to workers affected by this pattern of discrimination.