Former information technology (IT) workers have sued Walt Disney for firing and replacing them with contractors from India two years ago. The group of 30-odd former employees filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on Monday in an Orlando federal court.
The group alleges that they were laid off "based solely on their national origin and race and were replaced with Indians, who received special treatment," the Chicago Tribune reported. Additionally, the workers said they were forced to train the people replacing them, which was humiliating.
The lawsuit claims that about 250 IT workers in Florida were asked to train their replacement workers in order to earn severance pay. They said they were replaced specifically by "Indian workers" who were brought in from overseas or on H-1B visas.
However, the court papers do not specify the race, nationality or ethnicity of the workers who have filed the lawsuit, Press Trust of India reported. The workers said that they had applied for other roles in the same company, but were not hired.
Refuting the allegations, Disney said: "like the two other dismissed cases brought by this lawyer, this latest lawsuit is nonsense and we will defend it vigorously."
Two similar lawsuits were dismissed by a federal judge a few months ago. In those cases, two ex-Disney IT workers claimed that the contractors made false statements on the visa forms for the workers who replaced them. However, the judgement ruled that Disney and its outsourcing contractors did not violate any rules, the Chicago Tribune added.
