Indian IT giants Wipro, Infosys and HCL Technologies have faced fresh lawsuits on employee discrimination in the US last month at a time when these firms are seeing an increased hostility for visas in their largest export market.
According to Economic Times, In December, Wipro received a lawsuit over allegations of racial discrimination by an African-American employee named Kevin Clark. He has alleged that he was not given projects and ultimately terminated based on his race. While Clark sought damages for emotional pain and distress, he has also demanded a compensation of $25 million and other costs.
The same month, India’s other IT major Infosys received a lawsuit from Cathy Szczepinski in Ohio for alleged violation of fair labour standards and denial of overtime payment. Whereas, HCL Technologies received a lawsuit over allegations of discrimination by an employee named Sierra Claytor based in North Carolina.
According to Wipro spokesperson “Wipro is committed to being an equal opportunity employer and the employment policy adheres to the highest standards of integrity, fairness and ethical corporate practices. The company does not comment on pending litigation,”
Infosys and HCL Technologies have yet to respond on this, ET reports
“Indian companies are increasingly facing restrictions in getting the coveted H-1B visas due to the Trump decision to favour US technology companies for work permits. Because of this, it has made Indian tech services companies increase hiring local workers in the US.”
In August, a number of Indian IT companies were sued against an alleged hiring bias in their recruitment process, and the latest one to face the fire is HCL Technologies. A US legislation has filed a class-action lawsuit against the IT company for being discriminatory in its process of hiring an employee. and in October, Infosys faced a class action suit from an investor as the company’s ADS fell 12% following a whistleblower’s allegations of accounting malfeasance.
Cognizant was sued for racial discrimination in the US. Economic Times reports that an American staffer has dragged the company to court over preferential treatment to Indian employees, claiming he was denied promotions and plum assignments despite winning large clients such as Papa John’s and Pepsi. The lawsuit alleges that ‘diversity candidates’ – a term used internally for American staffers – were only given roles when it was advantageous for the company due to “cultural fitment reasons.” Late last year, TCS was cleared of anti-American bias even as Infosys and Wipro have faced similar charges.
According to Analysts “lawsuits and the cost to settle these claims will not materially hurt these firms” but the lack of diversity both on race and gender could impact these firms to some extent. “The Indian service providers are in a very tough spot.
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