Several former Walt Disney Co. employees have filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over being replaced by foreign workers, according to media reports. The action taken by 23 information technology workers who were laid off from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. is the first step to filing a lawsuit alleging discrimination. The employees allege in the EEOC complaints that they were discriminated against based on their national origins and faced hostile treatment by being forced to train their replacements, according to a story posted Monday at online technology publication ComputerWorld. Last year and early this year, Burbank media giant Disney laid off more than 100 employees in Orlando and had them train inexpensive replacements brought into the U.S. through the H-1B visa program. The replacements were immigrants hired by an outsourcing company based in India. The H-1B visa program allows up to 85,000 temporary visas for foreigners with engineering, computer and other advanced technical skills to fill jobs when companies cannot find American workers to fill the positions. In a statement provided to ComputerWorld, a Disney spokesperson said, “We comply with all applicable employment laws. We are expanding our IT department and adding more jobs for U.S. IT workers.” When the layoffs and replacement training became public in June, Disney said that it was reorganizing the IT department at Walt Disney World to put more focus on developing new technology. Shares closed down Wednesday $1.47, or just over 1 percent, to $117.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.