Meta is in another legal trouble. A former product design manager has reportedly filed a lawsuit against the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm, claiming he was fired after refusing to sign an immigration support letter that he believed overstated another employee’s work. According to Law Commentary, he alleges that Meta did not offer immigration assistance equally to employees from different national backgrounds.
Reportedly, James Tillinghast filed the lawsuit against Meta and his former manager, Bolan Wang, on August 17 in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Dispute Over $638 Million Claim
According to the report, the dispute started in 2024 when Meta was preparing an immigration petition for an employee in Tillinghast’s product design team. The petition sought an EB-2 National Interest Waiver, a route that can allow certain highly skilled workers to seek US permanent residency without a traditional job offer and labour certification.
As per the publication, Tillinghast claims a draft reference letter credited the employee with generating around $638 million in additional advertising revenue. The letter also reportedly described the employee as having developed AI tools and taken on wider leadership responsibilities.
However, Tillinghast says parts of the letter did not accurately reflect the employee’s actual role. He claims much of the technical work had been carried out by engineering teams.
Tillinghast alleges that he discussed his concerns with Meta’s immigration lawyers and worked with the employee to make changes to the document. However, he ultimately refused to sign statements that he believed he could not personally support, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that Wang later provided or signed a replacement letter for the immigration petition. Tillinghast claims Meta then revoked his access to internal systems around August 29, 2024, before ending his employment on September 30.
The former manager also alleges that Meta provided immigration-related assistance more often to some Chinese national employees than to workers from other countries. He reportedly stressed that the support included access to immigration lawyers, help preparing petition documents and assistance in securing managerial reference letters.
Tillinghast argues that such support was an employment benefit and says Meta did not apply clear and neutral rules when providing it. Moreover, Tillinghast claims Meta later described his termination as being linked to underperformance. He disputes that explanation and alleges it was a cover for retaliation.
He is reportedly seeking about $566,000 in lost compensation and roughly $491,000 in forfeited equity, along with damages for alleged mental anguish, pain and suffering.
