Disney Workers Replaced by Foreigners Lose Lawsuit

Disney workers who were fired several years ago after being forced to train their foreign replacements have lost their lawsuit against Walt Disney Company as a number of judges have ruled that Disney did not actually break any laws.

Sara Blackwell, the attorney for the group of Disney workers who lost their jobs in 2014, conceded that this was a legal fight that her and the Disney workers she represented simply could not win. Blackwell filed four lawsuits against the Walt Disney Company at the state and federal levels; however, all have been dismissed because current laws allow companies to replace American workers with H-1B visa holders even though the decision to do so is controversial.

However, Blackwell has refused to back down from her stance that replacing workers who are performing well in order to save money is downright wrong. She had made it clear that she will continue fighting on behalf of those who have lost jobs to cheap foreign workers by raising public awareness of the issue. Additionally, the former Disney workers who lost their jobs will also be looking for other avenues to pursue justice.

Naturally, Disney’s response to the failed lawsuit was nothing short of smug. As one company spokesperson recently stated, Disney feels that the lawsuits were completely baseless. While this may hold true from a strictly legal point of view, few intelligent individuals are likely to agree with such a stance.

Forcing workers who are being replaced to train their foreign replacements or lose severance pay is nothing short of unethical. While such a move could be rationalized if the workers were performing poorly, Disney’s fired workers were by all accounts doing excellent work. They managed technical jobs such as ensuring that hotel reservations, store purchases and ticket sales were processed without glitches; in fact, some were expecting a bonus when told that they were being replaced with cheap foreign labor.

Unfortunately, firing American workers in order to hire cheaper workers from abroad is not an uncommon strategy for companies that want to boost profits. Other companies and educational institutions that have used the same tactic on their unwitting employees include Northeast Utilities, Eversource Energy and the University of California San Francisco.

As Blackwell accurately notes, there are powerful special interest groups that are fighting on behalf of foreign workers who want to move to the United States to find better work than they would be able to obtain back home. While one could hardly blame foreign workers for looking for profitable employment wherever they can find it, the fact that they are gaining employment at someone else’s expense has generated a great deal of ill will. This is especially true among those who have lost their jobs, been threatened with lack of severance pay, or even been told outright that their company could hire several Indians to do their job and still spend less money.

While the 250 workers who were unfairly let go from the Walt Disney company have been unable to successfully pursue legal action against their former employer, the case against Disney isn’t actually over.

In a 2017 letter to Congress, the Department of Homeland Security has made it clear that it is investigating a number of companies that may have misused the H-1B visa program. The program was only intended to bring in foreign workers to fill jobs after companies had attempted to find American workers for the position but were unable to do so. Disney, along with the companies mentioned above, are among those under criminal investigation for their blatant disregard for laws and rules governing the use of the H-1B program.

What will come of the investigation is unknown; however, the fact that the Disney workers have lost their lawsuit against the company has once again put issues surrounding the H-1B program back in the spotlight.

~ Liberty Planet


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