Sen. Chuck Grassley has something to say to Microsoft about the way the company plans to implement its recently-announced layoffs: Axe the foreign employees first to save more Americans’ jobs.
But such a plan might violate anti-discrimination laws, some legal experts say.
Grassley, who has often decried the of the use of “special occupation” H-1B visa program in the tech industry, sent a letter to Microsoft last week after the company announced it would eliminate 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months.
Noting that last year Microsoft executives went to Capitol Hill to urge for an increase of H-1B visas, Grassley urged the company to prioritize American employees.
“H-1B and other work visa programs were never intended to replace qualified American workers,” Grassley’s letter stated. “Certainly, these work visa programs were never intended to allow a company to retain foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American workers, when that company cuts jobs during an economic downturn.
“It is imperative that in implementing its layoff plan, Microsoft ensures that American workers have priority in keeping their jobs over foreign workers on visa programs….Microsoft has a moral obligation to protect these American workers by putting them first during these difficult economic times,” Grassley continued.
Grassley went on to ask the company which types of positions were being eliminated, how many are held by American workers and which are filled by foreign guest workers, and how many guest workers will remain after the reduction in force is completed.
But Cletus Weber, partner at the immigration law firm Peng & Weber, told The Seattle Times that targeting H-1B visa holders might be a legally risky move for Microsoft.
“I know of no immigration law that would require Microsoft or any other U.S. company to lay off its lawfully employed foreign workers first,” Weber told the paper. “To the contrary, I believe arbitrarily laying off lawfully employed foreign workers first would subject these companies to potential legal liability under federal anti-discrimination laws.”
HT: ACSBlog
DC Dicta - Lawyers USA 
More proof that there never was an I.T. labor shortage.
The H-1B program should be halted. The meltdown in the economy is
a direct result of the job displacement of U.S. workers with cheap foreign H-1B workers.
H-1B workers are ordinary workers doing ordinary work.
There is no requirement to look for American workers, in fact, American workers can be replaced en-masse with H-1B workers.
Click to access strat_plan_2006-2011.pdf
U.S. Department of Labor STRATEGIC PLAN Fiscal Years 2006-2011 pg. 35) states:
“… H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker.”
If it is illegal to lay off foreign workers first, it shouldn’t be. We have plenty of qualified workers here, who need the jobs, so they can keep their homes, buy goods and services, and PAY TAXES. Why is there a disconnect between the fact of all the foreign workers who do not pay US taxes, and the shortfall in tax revenue? It would not solve everything, but it would sure help, if enough companies did it.