Disney seeks dismissal of case over displacing US workers

WASHINGTON: Walt Disney World has sought dismissal of a lawsuit filed against it by a former employee who alleged that the firm colluded with HCL to displace American workers with cheap foreign labour brought to the US on H-1B visas, mostly from India.

“The Complaint (by a former Disney employee) contains not a single plausible allegation to bridge the gap between a common place commercial outsourcing arrangement and the knowing conspiracy to violate federal immigration law that Plaintiff asserts,” Disney said in its latest filing before a court in Florida in response to a class action lawsuit filed against it.

In his lawsuit, Leo Perrero alleged that Disney, his former employer, and HCL colluded with each other when telling the Department of Labour that the hiring of foreigners on visas would not adversely affect the working conditions of US workers. Perrero alleged that Disney employees were asked to train their replacements or lose severance. HCL too filed its response on Perrero’s lawsuit.

Both HCL and Disney have sought dismissal of the lawsuit. “In sum, when the Complaint’s many unsupported conclusory allegations and mistakes of law are stripped away, the ordinary business arrangement on which Plaintiff relies is fully explained by lawful motivations and Plaintiff’s conspiracy claims fail.

The Complaint should be dismissed with prejudice,” Disney said in its filing before the US court last Friday.