A group of McDonald's franchises are under scrutiny after former managers alleged that temporary foreign workers receive more opportunities than locals — on account of their willingness to "do whatever they're asked." The Canadian Federal Government launched an urgent investigation into allegations against the franchises in British Columbia and Alberta after Radio Canada reported on the accusations of "reverse discrimination" against Canadian citizens.

Reverse discrimination charges have, at points, gained traction in the United States since the Affirmative Action movement began in the 1960s, but opponents of the controversial legal approach dismiss the suits as white people complaining about “loss of privilege and preferences.” But some immigration attorneys said the McDonald's franchise case highlights challenges facing businesses that employ temporary foreign workers both in Canada and its neighbor to the south.

“I was told [foreign workers] have better flexibility, they're willing to do whatever they're asked,” Chris Eldridge, who managed scheduling at six franchises in Southern Alberta, told CBC News. Eldridge says he quit his job because he "could no longer stomach" depriving Canadian citizens of shifts and job opportunities — claiming he was ordered to give more hours to immigrant employees, all of whom his boss allegedly housed in a "compound" with up to eight people living together in each apartment. His employer, a McDonald's franchisee, has denied accusations of disparate treatment. But the federal government has suspended him from further participating in the temporary foreign worker program pending an investigation.

Reverse Discrimination: No One Wins

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Immigration lawyer Gretel Ness says similar issues have arisen from the US government's H-1B program, which grants temporary visas to highly skilled guest workers. Last year, hundreds of tech workers at pharmaceutical heavyweight Pfizer were laid off and replaced with a guest workforce from India, Mother Jones reported. Foreign workers have a major presence in the technology industry; and the federal government has made strides to dramatically increase permits for foreign labor from 65,000 to more than 100,000.

"My basic view is that the country should welcome as many of those people as we can get,” Microsoft founder Bill Gates said in 2009, according to PRI.

But the new arrivals should not be considered beneficiaries of an unbalanced system, says Ness.

“I think all across the board, you’re going to find foreign workers exploited and US workers that are disadvantaged by this,” she said.

US Employers Face Predicament

Onlookers have criticized the H-1B program’s have several caveats that often lead to guestworkers feeling "hand-cuffed" to their employers, University of California professor Norm Matloff told PRI last year. For temporary laborers, leaving an employer for greener pastures forces them to restart the green card application process. So the foreign workforce often finds itself shackled to “household-name firms” that often abuse the H-1B program, forcing their employees to meet exceedingly  high standards or face deportation. Firms can use the program to replace older, homegrown employees with cheaper, younger labour, he claimed.

Ness, with the Oregan-based Parker Butte & Lane firm, says the H-1B program imposes a long list of requirements that employers must follow  — but mandated concessions for guestworkers can put those employers at risk of reverse discrimination liability.

"[Employers] are forced to comply with regulations, but the effect of that might be disparate treatment," she said.

But general wisdom among employment law specialists is to maintain best practices to prevent discrimination in the workplace  — treating each personnel decision in a fair and transparent way while implementing a case management system to identify and investigate  bias whenever it occurs.