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India’s largest software exporter TCS suffered a setback in a US court on Wednesday as its plea to dismiss a two-year-old suit against it was denied by a federal judge in Oakland, California. The suit accused the company of violating anti-discrimination laws by favouring Indians.
In a further blow, the judge expanded the anti-discrimination lawsuit into a class-action suit. This means that the former employees who meet the conditions for suing as a group — having common complaints — can do so.
TCS said in a statement that it would defend its position and that it expects a positive outcome. “In vindication of our position that TCS is an Equal Opportunity Employer, District Court in California has denied Class Certification on a litigation against the company alleging... discrimination in hiring against people of non-South Asian origin. The same court has, however, granted Class certification in respect to discrimination in practices related to termination of employees. This part of the litigation will move to the next phase of trial,” a TCS spokesperson said.
TCS claimed it is an equal-opportunity employer operating in over 50 countries, including the US, and employes nationals from over 100 countries. It said there were no discriminatory practices in any part of the company.
The lawsuit dates back to April 2015, when former TCS employee Steven Heldt filed a civil complaint in the US District Court in San Francisco claiming he experienced “substantial anti-American sentiment” and was fired after working at several of the company’s US offices for 20 months because he was a Caucasian American.
Heldt accused TCS of threefold discrimination: hiring 95 per cent of its workers, most of them from India, on H-1B, L-1 and B-1 visas; hiring a disproportionate number of local South Asian workers; and discriminating against non-South Asians in promotions and firings.
Under pressure from the US government to restrict H-1B visas, TCS has been hiring locally in the US.
It recruited over 11,500 outside India during 2016-17, including graduates from engineering and B-schools in the US.
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