Disney’s dilemma

Disney may be headed to court as two dozen former employees are filing a compliant with the EEOC. The Disney workers were employed at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The former workers claim that they lost their jobs due to discrimination, alleging that they were victims of “national origin discrimination”. The January layoff came after an agreement with IT services contractors.

The employees laid off were replaced with many individuals brought over from India with H-1B visas. The workers were reputedly given the task to train their replacements. This claim led the workers attorney Sara Blackwell to add accounts of “hostile work conditions” to the complaint. Blackwell stated “I’m hoping that it signifies that American workers are being brave and standing up and doing something about it”.

Blackwell further explained that employees brought over from other countries are often exposed to poor working environments. She went on to say that “The only beneficiaries are the corporations.” Disney has apparently been named just one of several corporations to use H-1B visas, as well as other work related visas, to replace American workers with foreign employees. Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler commented on the situation, stating “We comply with all applicable employment laws. We are expanding our IT department and adding more jobs for U.S. IT workers.”