Man claims Meta fired him after he refused to sign a Green Card letter for a Chinese visa worker, seeks $1 million in lawsuit

A former Meta employee, James Tillinghast, has filed a lawsuit seeking over $1 million in damages, alleging that the tech giant fired him for refusing to sign a Green Card application letter he deemed factually inaccurate. The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey, claims Tillinghast was terminated in 2024 after declining to endorse a letter supporting an I-140 National Interest Waiver petition for a Chinese employee, Shenxum Wang.

Tillinghast's refusal stemmed from his belief that the letter contained materially inaccurate assertions. Specifically, the letter attributed $683 million in incremental advertising revenue to Wang, a figure Tillinghast could not verify as personally generated by Wang. Furthermore, the letter implied Wang had created algorithms or AI tools, which Tillinghast doubted, understanding Wang's role to be in product design and user experience. The lawsuit also states Tillinghast disagreed with claims that Wang managed or led a team.

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The termination documents for the manager 'did not identify underperformance as the reason for termination,' per the complaint.

According to the complaint, Tillinghast attempted to work with Wang and an immigration law firm to revise the letter, ensuring it contained only statements he could truthfully endorse. He specifically declined to endorse broader claims about Wang's national importance. Despite these efforts, Tillinghast was fired a few months later. His termination documents reportedly did not cite underperformance as the reason, though the company later offered a verbal explanation that Tillinghast contends was pretextual.

The former employee is seeking $565,000 in lost pay and $490,000 in lost equity, along with punitive damages and a jury trial. Meta has not yet issued a statement regarding the lawsuit. The case highlights potential conflicts arising from employee endorsements for immigration petitions, particularly when those endorsements involve significant financial figures or claims about a worker's contributions and impact.

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Meta later advanced an oral underperformance explanation that Plaintiff contends was pretextual.