Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it would not comment on any pending legal action after more than a dozen current and former US employees filed a class action lawsuit accusing the chipmaker of discriminatory hiring practices.
Initially filed in August, the suit was refiled last week as a class action case with 13 plaintiffs named.
The 13 plaintiffs — whose backgrounds include the US, Mexico, Nigeria, Europe and South Korea — were seeking damages to redress TSMC’s apparent discrimination practices.
Photo: Bloomberg
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claimed TSMC’s employment practices include an “intentional pattern and practice of employment discrimination against individuals who are not of East Asian race, not of Taiwanese or Chinese national origin, and who are not citizens of Taiwan or China, including discrimination in hiring, staffing, promotion, and retention/termination decisions.”
While declining to comment on the lawsuit, TSMC did say that recruitment and promotion in the company did not take into account factors such as nationality and race.
“TSMC believes strongly in the value of a diverse workforce and we hire and promote without regard to gender, religion, race, nationality, or political affiliation because we respect differences, and believe that equal employment opportunities strengthen our competitiveness,” the company said.
“We also provide various channels for employees to raise concerns, and strive to address concerns constructively,” it said.
In Arizona, TSMC is building two advanced fabs, with the first scheduled to start mass production early next year, using the sophisticated 4-nanometer process, while the second is slated to mass produce wafers using the 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer processes in 2028 to tap into solid demand for artificial intelligence applications.
TSMC has announced a plan to build a third fab in Arizona using the 2-nanometer process or more advanced technology, with production slated to start by the end of 2030, boosting its total investment in Arizona to top US$65 billion.
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