India?s second-largest IT exporter Infosys is in trouble once again in the US, its biggest market. This time, a Wisconsin-based IT professional has accused the company of discrimination against American citizens in its hiring practices. The complainant, who had applied for a position in the company, has alleged that Infosys rejected her job application and instead employed a Bangladeshi national for the position.
In a complaint filed by her attorney on August 1 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Brenda Koehler, the complainant, alleged that she was denied the job because she was not of South Asian descent. The lawsuit alleged that the Bangalore-headquartered IT major?s hiring practices and actions are in violation of US civil rights law.
Infosys has denied all allegations in this regard, saying it is an ?equal opportunity employer?.
?Infosys has engaged in systematic, company-wide discrimination against individuals based upon their national origin. Specifically, Infosys has discriminated against individuals who are not of South Asian (including but not necessarily limited to India, Nepal, Bangladesh) descent,? Koehler said in her petition. ?Infosys employs more than 15,000 individuals in the US and approximately 90% of these employees are of South Asian descent.?
However, the IT major has denied all the allegations and pointed out that no court has yet ruled that the case is appropriate for class action treatment. ?Infosys is an equal opportunity employer. We categorically deny Koehler?s claims. We look forward to addressing this matter in court, not in public venues where facts can become mixed with rumour, opinion and speculation. It is important to understand that no proof of class action suitability has been presented and no court has ruled that the case is appropriate for class action treatment,? an Infosys spokesperson said in a statement.
Koehler?s petition also said that she has been employed in information technology positions since 1996 and was a VMware certified professional. In April 2012, Koehler applied for a position as a ?lead VMware/Windows administrator? with Infosys, the petition noted.
Last year, too,?Infosys was kept busy in connection with two different lawsuits in the US related to employee harassment. In December, Infosys had settled a harassment suit filed in a US court by a former employee Satya Dev Tripuraneni through mediation. Tripuraneni had filed a lawsuit in the California District Court, alleging that the management retaliated against him for complaining against the company?s visa practices.
Prior to that, the company was cleared of any wrongdoing in the much-publicised Jack Palmer case by a US court earlier last year. Palmer, a US citizen and employee of Infosys, had accused the company of harassing him for speaking against visa abuses, but the court threw out his case. In both these cases, Infosys had consistently maintained that it had been following all the regulations and that there were no cases of harassment against its employees.
However, Infosys is still facing certain investigations from the US department of homeland security and grand jury in the US District Court of Texas. ?The DHS is undertaking a review of our employer eligibility verifications on Form I-9 with respect to our employees working in the US,? Infosys said in its annual report.
