Long before Title VII was adopted, federal law codified at 42 U.S.C. section 1981 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race. In this case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that discrimination against U.S. citizens on the basis of their citizenship is also prohibited under 42 U.S.C. section 1981.
Purushothaman Rajaram, a U.S. citizen and information technology professional, alleged that Meta Platforms, Inc. refused to hire him because it preferred to hire noncitizens holding H-1B visas for lower wages. Rajaram brought a class action asserting a single claim: that Meta violated section 1981 by discriminating against U.S. citizens in hiring.
Section 1981(a) states that “[a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State … to make and enforce contracts, … and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens….”
The Ninth Circuit held that section 1981 prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. citizens because an employer that does so gives one class of people—noncitizens, or perhaps some subset of noncitizens—a greater right to make contracts than “white citizens.” If some noncitizens have a greater right to make contracts than “white citizens,” then section 1981(a) is violated.
Rajaram v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 105 F.4th 1179 (9th Cir. 2024).