Facebook settles US worker discrimination claims

Published

3 years ago

October 20, 2021

Facebook has settled a major discrimination case, agreeing to pay a record $14.5m to settle claims made by US workers

The world’s biggest social media giant, Facebook, has agreed to pay a record $14.5m to settle claims it discriminated against U.S. workers in its hiring practice.

The United States Department of Justice claimed that the tech giant often overlooked US workers in favour of foreign ones on temporary visas.

It is the biggest penalty of its kind issued by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

Facebook said it “strongly believes” it met the federal government’s standards

“Facebook is not above the law, and must comply with our nation’s federal civil rights laws, which prohibit discriminatory recruitment and hiring practices,”
said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ.

“Companies cannot set aside certain positions for temporary visa holders because of their citizenship or immigration status.”

The tech sector in the United States often uses temporary visas, including the H-1B, to bring highly skilled foreign guest workers to America.

Tech giants argues those foreign workers are vital, because there are not enough American science and engineering graduates to fill the jobs available in areas such as artificial intelligence.

However, critics say the laws governing temporary visas are lax, and make it too easy to replace U.S workers with cheaper foreign labour – something US law prohibits.

Is GenerativeAI transforming education?

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

ticker NEWS

Educators today are facing an uphill battle, so what’s the solution?

Today’s educators are passionate, but they’re up against diverse classrooms and outdated teaching methods.

In this episode, Trevor Furness, Chief Revenue Officer of Octopus B-I discuss their efforts to transform education. #funding futures

How AI is leveraging Amazon’s fast production

Published

3 days ago

May 2, 2024

Nathan Langridge

Amazon reported better-than-expected results for the last quarter, surpassing analysts’ estimates.

Amazon reported better-than-expected results for the last quarter, surpassing analysts’ estimates, driven by strong performance in its cloud computing and AI.

Ticker’s Ahron Young & Veronica Dudo discuss.

Tesla is slashing prices to stay competitive

Published

2 weeks ago

April 21, 2024

Reuters

Tesla cut the U.S. prices of its Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles by $2,000 each, days after the first-quarter deliveries of the world’s most valuable automaker missed market expectations.

Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle (EV) maker lowered the prices for its Model Y base variant to $42,990, while the long-range and performance variants are now priced at $47,990 and $51,490, respectively, according to its website.

The basic version of the Model S now costs $72,990 and its plaid variant $87,990. The Model X base variant now costs $77,990 and its plaid variant is priced at $92,900.

Tesla North America also said in a post on X said it would end its referral program benefits in all markets after April 30.

Referral program allows buyers to get extra incentives through referrals from existing customers, a strategy long used by traditional automakers to boost sales.

Musk has postponed a planned trip to India where he was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announce plans to enter the South Asian market, Reuters reported on Saturday.

On Monday Reuters reported, citing an internal memo, that the EV maker was laying off more than 10% of its global workforce.

Earlier this month Reuters reported the EV maker had canceled a long-promised inexpensive car, expected to cost $25,000, that investors had been counting on to drive mass-market growth.

The EV maker reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years, as price cuts failed to stir demand.

Tesla is to report first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.