Was it chutzpah or ignorance behind an ad posted on Dice specifically seeking H-1B visa holders to fill IT jobs in metropolitan Atlanta?

Scan the job listings on Dice and other employment sites, and it's not uncommon to see ads that seek H-1B visa holders. Some aren't too subtle; they'll specifically ask for H-1B visa holders or wannabes to apply, but at least they list a job title and required skills.

And there are plenty of them. Today I used the keyword H-1B, and the results included postings from a myriad of IT services firm, such as Comsys with the heading "SAP MM SD Functional - ** H1B or Green card seekers please respond" and Focus Technologies, which sought a "JAVA/J2EE Developer with H1B sponsorship."

But none of the job listings were as blatant as one posted on Sept. 29 by Expert Solutions, which touts itself as one of the fastest growing IT consulting and services firms in Atlanta. The Expert Solutions ad--which has been removed--states under job title: "Need H1-b (sic) candidates" and under skills: "Looking for H1-b candidates with/without projects." Strange title and skills, don't you think?

I called Expert Solutions owner Raghu Goverdhana and asked him why he ran such an ad. He said his firm had clients that had short-term assignments that weren't attracting green-card holders or American citizens, so he saw it as a way to reach out to H-1B visa holders who might be looking for new assignments. Goverdhana said he removed the ad because the jobs were filled. The jobs, by the way, were for quality assurance testers in telecom and retail.

Later, in an e-mail exchange, Goverdhana wrote that it was wrong to seek qualified candidates by focusing solely on H-1B visa holders. "We are extremely sorry for making wrong impression with our advertisement," he wrote. "I am assuring you it will not be repeated again."

In our conversation, Goverdhana said he didn't mean to hurt anyone. In my e-mail, I asked him to explain. "We got an e-mail in response to that ad saying, 'Your advertisement is discriminatory.' That's is the reason I said we did not mean to hurt anyone."

The e-mail came from Roy Lawson, a member of the Programmers Guild, a professional society that's been highly critical of the H-1B visa program. "Your advertisement is discriminatory," wrote Lawson, who sent a copy to me. "You specifically seek to hire based upon nationality. If you don't remove it, I will sue your company and file a complaint."

No suit needed. The ad is no longer posted.

Was the decision to remove the ad based on a legal threat, or a sincere recognition that he made a mistake? I'll take Goverdhana at his word that he didn't realize that posting an ad specifically looking for H-1B visa holders was discriminatory. Am I being naïve? What do you think?