another study that found chemicals stay in the body once they enter the bloodstream . Exposure to PFAS has been connected to the development of testicular cancer , non-Hodgkin ’ s lymphoma , prostate cancer and testicular cancer , which are four of the eight main cancers most often diagnosed in firefighters .
Meta Class Action Alleges Citizenship Bias In Hiring Process
Facebook hires certain visa holders instead of U . S . citizens so it can pay them less , which leaves citizen-applicants without jobs , a new class action lawsuit alleges .
Plaintiff Purushothaman Rajaram filed the class action complaint against Meta Platforms Inc . May 17 in a California federal court , alleging violations of civil rights laws .
Rajaram , who is a job applicant and also a U . S . citizen , says Meta treated him differently because of his citizenship .
The lawsuit comes after the U . S . Department of Justice reached a settlement with Facebook for more than $ 14 million following claims that Facebook unlawfully favored applicants with temporary visas .
In his lawsuit , Rajaram alleges that , while visa holders make up “ just a fraction ” of the United States labor market , Facebook prefers to hire visadependent workers for certain U . S . positions as it can pay these employees less than American workers performing the same work .
Rajaram says he applied for a job at Facebook on two occasions in 2020 and went through various stages of the interview process but was never hired .
Instead of hiring him , Facebook hired an H-1B visa holder for the job , Rajaram alleges .
H-1B visas are designed to bring overseas workers to labor in “ specialty occupations ” if there aren ’ t enough U . S . workers to do a certain job . Facebook has mostly filed H-1B and PERM applications for software engineer positions , Rajaram says .
He also says H1-B workers make up 15 % or more of Facebook ’ s workforce because Facebook pays them less .
“ If Facebook in fact paid its visa workers the same as it paid American workers , it would have every incentive to hire , for all positions , the most qualified individual ( regardless of his or her visa status ),” Rajaram says .
He ’ s looking to represent anyone who applied for a job at Facebook in the United States either directly or through a third-party vendor and were not hired in the roles of software engineer , research scientist , data scientist , data engineer , engineering manager , PLM architect and / or PLM analyst .
Rajaram seeks certification of the class action , damages , fees , costs , an injunction forcing Facebook to change its hiring practices and a jury trial .
Meanwhile , a group of Facebook users in California has asked a judge to require Facebook ’ s parent company Meta to hand over documents from its internal investigation into data harvesting by Cambridge Analytica .
U . S . Women ’ s Soccer Class Action Reaches Deal To Obtain Equal Pay
A six-year fight over equal pay at the top levels of United States soccer has resulted in a $ 24 million settlement payment to
U . S . women ’ s team players plus a promise by their federation to equalize pay between the men ’ s and women ’ s national teams .
In a joint motion filed Feb . 22 in the Ninth Circuit , the U . S . Soccer Federation and the U . S . Women ’ s National Team ( USWNT ) players said they were currently working to finalize a settlement agreement and sought to cancel an upcoming hearing in the court of appeal .
Under the terms of the settlement , the athletes , a group consisting of several dozen current and former women ’ s national team players , will share $ 24 million in payments from the federation , the New York Times reports . The bulk of that figure is back pay .
A $ 2 million part of the payment will be paid into an account “ to benefit USWNT players in their post-career goals and charitable efforts related to women ’ s and girls ’ soccer ,” the settlement reportedly said .
The deal is reliant on the USWNT players ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement . U . S . Soccer has also promised to give equal pay going forward for the women ’ s and men ’ s national teams in all friendlies and tournaments , including the World Cup .
“ We are pleased to announce that , contingent on the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement , we will have resolved our longstanding dispute over equal pay and proudly stand together in a shared commitment to advancing equality in soccer ,” the players and the federation said in a joint statement . “ Getting to this day has not been easy .”
Women ’ s soccer players , including Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe , filed a $ 67 million lawsuit against U . S . Soccer back in 2019 , arguing their compensation is unfair compared to that of their male counterparts . The case dates back to a 2016 complaint lodged with the U . S . Equal Employment Opportunity Commission .
A federal judge in California sided with U . S . Soccer in May 2020 ,
The Trial Lawyer x 93