Two former Walt Disney World employees filed federal lawsuits against the company on Monday, accusing it and two outsourcing firms of colluding to break the law by bringing in immigrant workers on temporary H-1B visas to replace Americans. The lawsuits were filed by Leo Perrero and Dena Moore, who were among 250 Disney employees laid off about a year ago, reported the Orlando Sentinel. The outsourcing companies that are also defendants in the case are HCL Inc. and Cognizant Technologies.
The lawsuits by Perrero and Moore are based on the rules for H-1B visas. Employers are required to declare to the Department of Labor that hiring foreigners on the visas “will not adversely affect the working conditions of US workers similarly employed”. Moore said, “Was I negatively affected? Yeah, I was. I lost my job.”
This isn't the first time that American workers, mainly in technology, accounting and administration, have said they had lost jobs to foreigners on H-1B visas, and had to train replacements as a condition of their severance, reported The New York Times. The foreign workers, mostly from India, were provided by outsourcing companies, including the two named in the lawsuits.
Disney said in a statement, “These lawsuits are based on an unsustainable legal theory and are a wholesale misrepresentation of the facts.” The company said it hired more than 100 people who were laid off back into other roles and offered Moore another position at a comparable pay. The company added that hundreds of employers use H-1B visas and that it complies with all applicable employment laws.
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