A group of American tech professionals has taken legal action against Meta Platforms, alleging the company systematically favors foreign workers over U.S. citizens to minimize labor expenses. The lawsuit, led by information technology worker Purushothaman Rajaram, software engineer Ekta Bhatia, and data scientist Qun Wang, claims that Meta’s hiring practices disadvantage American applicants.
On February 25, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler ruled that the case could move forward as a proposed class-action lawsuit. The plaintiffs, all highly qualified, claim that between 2020 and 2024, they applied for multiple positions at Meta but were consistently rejected due to the company’s alleged preference for hiring employees on work visas. The lawsuit Rajaram et al v. Meta Platforms Inc. is currently underway in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, registered under case number 22-02920. In her ruling, Judge Beeler highlighted data indicating that 15% of Meta’s U.S. workforce consists of H-1B visa holders—significantly higher than the national average of 0.5%—as potential evidence of biased hiring.
Meta, based in Menlo Park, California, has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that the allegations lack merit. The company has pledged to “vigorously defend” itself, arguing that there is no proof of intentional discrimination or that the plaintiffs would have been selected had they not been U.S. citizens.
Judge Beeler also pointed to a prior legal settlement from October 2021, in which Meta agreed to pay up to $14.25 million to resolve claims that it favored temporary visa holders over American job applicants. She noted that these previous allegations strengthen the plaintiffs’ case.
The lawsuit originated from a government case filed against Meta in December 2020, shortly before former President Donald Trump left office. Initially, Judge Beeler dismissed an earlier version of the suit in November 2022 when Rajaram was the sole plaintiff. However, in June 2023, a divided federal appeals court reinstated the case, citing Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This law, established in the aftermath of the Civil War, prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status in contractual agreements. Conservative groups have frequently referenced this statute in their challenges to diversity initiatives in hiring.
