(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA) — US District Judge Vince Chhabria let a proposed class-action lawsuit against Tesla move forward on Monday, allowing software engineer Scott Taub to pursue core claims that the company discriminated against U.S. citizens in favor of H-1B visa holders.
Chhabria’s order in federal court in San Francisco kept Taub’s case alive past the early stage while dismissing claims by co-plaintiff Sofia Brander, an HR specialist, with a chance to revise and refile part of her complaint.
Taub and Brander sued Tesla in September 2025, accusing the company of violating federal civil rights law, the Civil Rights Act, through what they called a “systematic preference” for H-1B visa holders, particularly in engineering roles, during a period of layoffs in 2024.
At the center of Taub’s allegations is an interaction with a staffing recruiter that he says signaled certain openings were effectively closed to U.S. citizens who did not need employer sponsorship.
Taub alleged the recruiter described an engineering position as “H-1B only,” discouraging him from applying because he is a U.S. citizen and did not need sponsorship.
The lawsuit frames that alleged screening as unlawful discrimination against U.S. citizens, a civil-rights theory that, at this stage, rests on what the plaintiffs say happened rather than any findings by the court about Tesla’s intent.
Chhabria ruled Taub’s complaint pleaded enough to proceed, writing that it contained “just enough facts to allege that Tesla discriminated against US citizens,” even as he signaled limits on what the case had shown so far.
In assessing the complaint, the judge also expressed skepticism about relying on numerical patterns alone, noting that 2024 statistics cited in the case do not, by themselves, prove an unlawful preference for H-1B visa holders without additional context.
That caution mattered for Brander’s claims. She alleged Tesla passed her over for two HR roles, but Chhabria dismissed those allegations as “implausible” as pleaded because the lawsuit’s focus centered on H-1B use in “specialized roles in engineering, research, and design.”
Chhabria gave Brander 14 days from the order to amend her complaint, leaving open the possibility that she could attempt to cure the deficiencies the judge identified.
Public data also sits in the background of the dispute. U.S. Department of Labor data cited in the case shows Tesla requested over 2,000 H-1B visas in 2024, and the judge referenced allegations that those requests coincided with domestic layoffs that the plaintiffs say fell mostly on U.S. citizens.
The filings and debate around the case have also drawn attention to how large single-employer request volumes compare with the annual statutory limit for the visa category, which is capped at 65,000 visas, while underscoring that requests, approvals, and actual hires can be different things in litigation over hiring intent.
Tesla denied the allegations in court filings, calling them “preposterous,” and the ruling did not resolve the merits of the claims, which remain allegations at an early point in the case.
The lawsuit has landed in a wider fight over the role of high-skilled visas in the tech and engineering labor market, with Elon Musk defending the program amid heightened scrutiny and references to similar accusations against Walmart.
For Taub, Chhabria’s ruling means the surviving claims now move into discovery, the evidence-gathering phase that can force the exchange of records and sworn testimony. No trial date is set, and Brander can decide whether to amend within the judge’s timeline as the case continues in San Francisco federal court.
Tesla Faces Lawsuit Claiming It Replaced U.S. Workers with H-1B Visa Holders
Judge Vince Chhabria has allowed a lawsuit against Tesla to move forward, focusing on claims that the company discriminated against U.S. citizens by preferring H-1B visa holders for engineering roles. While some claims were dismissed, the core allegation regarding hiring bias will now enter the discovery phase, highlighting ongoing tensions between domestic labor protections and high-skilled visa programs in the technology sector.
