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U.S. firm fined for violations related to H-1B program

By Grant Gross , IDG News Service , 05/02/2008
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A U.S. provider of outsourcing and IT services has agreed to pay civil penalties of $45,000 to settle allegations that it discriminated against U.S. residents when attempting to hire foreign workers holding H-1B visas, the U.S. Department of Justice announced late Thursday.

The settlement with iGate Mastech also requires the company to train its recruiters and post a nondiscrimination statement on its Web site, the Department of Justice said. In addition to headquarters in Pittsburgh, the company has offices in three other U.S. cities, as well as Canada, Bulgaria and four cities in India.

Between May 9, 2006, and June 4, 2006, iGate placed 30 job announcements for computer programmers that "expressly favored" H-1B visa holders to the exclusion of legal U.S. workers, the Department of Justice said in a news release. The company engaged in citizenship status discrimination, which is prohibited by U.S. law, the Department of Justice said.

"We are committed to protecting the right of all authorized workers in the United States against citizenship status discrimination," Grace Chung Becker, acting assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

An iGate spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comments on the settlement.

Many large tech companies, including Microsoft and Symantec, have pushed for the U.S. Congress to increase the number of H-1B visas available each year. The current annual cap is 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for graduate students studying in the U.S. In recent years, the annual H-1B cap has been filled within days after the government opened the application period.

But critics of the H-1B program have suggested the program is often abused. U.S. companies often hire foreign workers when U.S. workers are available, critics have alleged. Outsourcing companies are major users of the H-1B program, critics have also pointed out.

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division will monitor iGate to ensure compliance with the settlement agreement, the Justice Department said.

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Comments (11)
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H-1BBy Anonymous on May 2, 2008, 3:40 pmUntil the economy turns around all H-1B visas should be stopped. Hire the US worker!

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H-1BBy Anonymous on May 2, 2008, 3:46 pmHow much of this fine is going to the US workers who were not hired? The company probably made hundreds of thousands of dollars doing this. A $45,000 fine is just...

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But, but, but, but, but...(sputter)By Anonymous on May 2, 2008, 3:54 pmIf you stopped US firms from hiring foreign workers, how would poor little Billy Gates make a buck? We know he's running such a lean ship right now that the cost...

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everyone loves to have a scapegoatBy Anonymous on May 2, 2008, 4:11 pmthe H1B program is incredibly restrictive compared to equivalent statutes in other developed parts of the world like Europe, where they rejected very similar proposals...

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H1B and marginBy Anonymous on May 2, 2008, 6:28 pmMany H1B workers are no more capable than local talent. The difference is that the H1B folks will work for 1/2 the cost of a domestic worker and are pimped out...

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H1B is clearly being used as a tool by corporations to bring in By Anonymous on May 2, 2008, 6:46 pmH1B is clearly being used as a tool by corporations to bring in cheaper workers. I've seen this at my own company where I was just outsourced along with many other...

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