Why ChipMaker Giant Is Being Sued Over ‘Anti-American’ Discrimination

Forbes

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has been accused by a group of its U.S. employees of concocting a “discriminatory scheme” that favors Taiwanese foreign workers.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahemerson/2024/11/13/chips-giant-tsmc-sued-over-anti-american-discrimination/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, chips giant TSMC sued over anti-American discrimination

00:09As the world's biggest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC,

00:15ramps up production in the United States, a group of more than a dozen current and former

00:19employees are suing it for alleged, quote, anti-American discrimination, which they claim

00:26has displaced U.S. workers in favor of Taiwanese hires.

00:30Headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, TSMC manufactures high-performance computing chips for companies

00:37like Apple and NVIDIA.

00:39It reported $10 billion in profits last quarter, thanks to the recent artificial intelligence

00:44boom.

00:45In 2020, the company announced a $65 billion plan to bring three of its semiconductor fabs

00:52to Phoenix, Arizona, promising to create thousands of U.S. jobs in a trillion-dollar

00:56industry.

00:57TSMC is set to receive $6.6 billion in funding and $5 billion in loans to support the project

01:05through the Federal Chips Act, which was enacted during the Biden administration and is meant

01:10to stimulate semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.

01:13However, its American expansion has been mired in controversy over its dependence on Taiwanese

01:20which the company's founder, Morris Chang, has previously attributed to, quote,

01:24a lack of manufacturing talents on U.S. soil.

01:29Last year, more than half of TSMC's 2,200-person Arizona workforce hailed from Taiwan, and

01:35the tensions between U.S. and Taiwanese employees have been the focus of several reports that

01:40highlighted differences in professional norms.

01:43The suit was originally filed in August by Deborah Howington, a current talent acquisition

01:47executive at TSMC, in California's Northern District Court.

01:52As a member of TSMC's HR leadership team, she claimed to have witnessed a culture of

01:57unlawful discriminatory practices that favored Taiwanese candidates and employees.

02:03In this month, 12 former TSMC staff with similar allegations signed onto the suit.

02:09The plaintiff group's attorney, Daniel Kochin, who is a partner at law firm Kochin & Lowe,

02:14told Forbes, quote,

02:16Having accepted $6 billion in U.S. federal funding and elected to compete within the

02:20U.S., it's imperative that TSMC comply with federal discrimination laws and treat all

02:26races, national origins, and citizens equally.

02:30We're confident in our case and look forward to presenting the case to a jury.

02:35Kochin & Lowe recently won a class-action lawsuit against staffing giant Cognizant,

02:40which was accused of favoring Indian workers on H-1B visas over local hires.

02:46In a new complaint filed last week, the former TSMC group, which includes American citizens

02:51and non-Taiwanese foreign nationals, described a, quote,

02:54discriminatory scheme concocted by TSMC's parent corporation, allegedly, quote,

03:00comprised almost exclusively of Taiwanese nationals who encourage and expect the U.S.-based

03:06subsidiaries to obey TSMC's discriminatory policies and practices without pushback,

03:11despite the fact that these policies and practices violate U.S. law.

03:16TSMC has yet to submit a rebuttal to the class-action complaint and declined to comment on the ongoing

03:22litigation.

03:23A company spokesperson told Forbes, quote,

03:26TSMC believes strongly in the value of a diverse workforce and we hire and promote without

03:31regard to gender, religion, race, nationality, or political affiliation because we respect

03:36differences and believe that equal employment opportunities strengthen our competitiveness.

03:41We also provide various channels for employees to raise concerns and strive to address concerns

03:46constructively.

03:48Part of the suit focuses on the company's alleged preference for employees who can speak

03:52and write Mandarin Chinese.

03:55The plaintiffs claim that meetings and business materials were often communicated only in

03:59Mandarin, preventing English speakers from doing their jobs and forcing them to decipher

04:04instructional texts with translation services.

04:07This was especially problematic when U.S. employees were required to undergo training

04:11in Taiwan.

04:13One person claimed a manager encouraged her to study Mandarin on the Duolingo app.

04:19For full coverage, check out Sarah Emerson's piece on Forbes.com.

04:24This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:27Thanks for tuning in.

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