Summary: Disney is being accused of creating a hostile work environment and outsourcing positions to cheaper foreigners in a lawsuit filed by recently laid-off tech workers.
Former tech employees at Walt Disney World are suing the company and two outsourcing firms for replacing them with foreign workers using H-1B visas. Leo Perrero and Dena Moore filed the lawsuit, hoping to turn it into a class-action that includes nearly 250 other workers that were laid off last year.
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The lawsuit is filed against the outsourcing firms HCL and Cognizant Technologies. The target of the lawsuit is to “kick them [outsourcing companies] at their business model, to stop them from systematically abusing the immigration system,” according to the plaintiffs’ attorney Sara Blackwell.
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Disney claims the lawsuit is without merit, “based on anunsustainable legal theory and are a wholesale misrepresentation of the facts.” Disney hired back around 100 people they laid-off, including offering a position to Moore at a comparable salary. Cognizant stated it, “fully complies with all U.S. regulations regarding H-1B visas. We have a robust internal compliance team that ensures our practices are not merely compliant with existing laws in letter and spirit, but also adhere to best practices.”
The merit for the lawsuit comes in the forms that are filled out to sponsor workers for the visa. The forms state that working conditions of “similarly situated employees would not be adversely affected.” Blackwell argues that “every time they file these, they are lying and falsifying documents. Disney is aware there are these requirements and Cognizant and HCL are lying.”
There are around two dozen complaints also filed with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission by other Disney workers that were laid off. Their complaints allege discrimination because of nationality, race, and age as well as claim that they had to train their replacements to receive their bonuses and severance.
Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-disney-h1b-visa-lawsuit-20160125-story.html
Photo: wdwnt.com