Disney Visa Ruling Will Cost Even More Americans Their Jobs

In another example of how US business screws American workers, a judge ruled yesterday that Disney did not violate visa laws when it brought in H-1B workers to replace American employees. The case was brought by two Disney workers who were laid off in 2015 but were forced to train foreign H-1B workers how to do their job in the last few weeks of their employment. The H-1B workers were actually employed by two outsourcing companies that primarily used contractors from India. In their claim, the two workers claimed that Disney and the contractors had colluded in making false statements to obtain their H-1B visas. The judge rejected those claims. According to the law, companies hiring H-1B workers must show that it “will not adversely affect the working conditions” of other American workers and that those workers “will not displace any similarly employed U.S. worker” in the first six months after the visa was granted. How the outsourcing companies and Disney circumvented this requirement was easy. The outsourcing company hires the foreign worker and, because it is an outsourcing company, that worker is not replacing any American worker. In fact, that worker could essentially “sit on the sidelines” for six months. Then the outsourcing company places the foreign worker in another company, in this case Disney, and, voila, everything is legal and an American worker is out of a job. Having worked in technology, I can tell you that this scheme exists in every industry and it is has cost thousands of Americans their jobs. It is yet another example of big business contorting itself to follow the letter of the law and ignoring the spirit of the law. And another example of how US businesses consider American employees as simply disposable parts.