A federal judge has ruled that Tesla must face a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging the company systematically discriminated against American workers by favoring H-1B visa holders for engineering roles, even as it laid off thousands of U.S. employees.
As first reported this week by Electrek, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said plaintiff Scott Taub, a software engineer, presented "just enough facts" for his claims to proceed.
Taub alleges he was denied an engineering job after a recruiter told him the position was "H-1B only," suggesting a preference for foreign visa holders in violation of federal civil rights law.
The lawsuit claims Tesla hired roughly 1,355 H-1B workers in 2024 while laying off more than 6,000 U.S. employees, most believed to be American citizens.
Judge Chhabria expressed skepticism that the statistics alone prove discrimination but said the alleged recruiter comment, if true, could constitute direct evidence of unlawful hiring practices.
The judge dismissed claims from a second plaintiff in human resources, calling it "implausible" Tesla would favor foreign workers for HR roles, though she was given leave to amend.
Tesla has denied the allegations, calling them "preposterous."
The ruling follows reporting that Tesla sought more than 2,000 H-1B visas during the same period it conducted mass layoffs, an unusually large share of the 65,000 annual visas available nationwide. The company has argued that the visa hires and layoffs involved different roles and skill sets.
The case also intensifies scrutiny of CEO Elon Musk’s public defense of the H-1B program.
In late 2024, as immigration restrictions became a flashpoint within MAGA-aligned circles, Musk forcefully backed the visa system, vowing to "go to war" over efforts to curb it.
His stance put him at odds with elements of the Trump-aligned base that have long opposed high-skilled visa programs, arguing they undercut American workers.
That tension sharpened in September 2025 when President Donald Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications, a move widely seen as targeting heavy corporate users of the program.
Musk, who had previously championed expanded access to foreign talent, later described the system as "broken" and suggested reforms, including higher wage thresholds.
The lawsuit now places Tesla at the center of that political and economic debate, with plaintiffs alleging the company used the visa system to replace laid-off U.S. workers with employees whose immigration status ties them more closely to their employer.
Newsmax has reached out to Tesla for comment.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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