Infosys Accused Of Discrimination Against Non-Asians By Former Employee 

Infosys Ltd. has been dragged to a U.S. court by a former executive alleging that India’s second largest software services exporter discriminated against non-Asians, the second time that the company is facing similar accusations.

Erin Green, former head of the company’s immigration vertical in the U.S., who was sacked last year, questioned his termination saying he did not receive any warning or placement on a performance improvement plan prior to being sacked, according to documents obtained by BloombergQuint.

He alleged that there is a systematic pattern of discrimination at Infosys against individuals who are not South Asians. He also accused the outsourcer of discrimination in hiring, promotion, compensation and termination of individuals.

The lawsuit comes even as Indian outsourcing firms are already under attack from the U.S. President Donald Trump administration for allegedly unfairly replacing American workers with employees from overseas. Trump has already signed an executive order to curb H-1B visas, largely used by Indian companies.

Green’s allegations are similarly to a law suit filed by four former Infosys employees in the U.S. in 2013, who had also alleged discrimination based on ethnicity.

Green accused two of Infosys’s senior executives, Vasudeva Nayak, then head of global immigration and Binod Hampapur, executive vice-president and global head of talent and technology operations, of discrimination. Nayak lowered performance evaluation scores Green gave to “white or black team members” and, hence, shutting out non-South Asians from career advancement, he alleged in the lawsuit.

“Plaintiff (Green) was terminated because of Defendant’s (Infosys) obsessional preference for employees of South Asian race and national origin, usually Indian, and as retaliation for reporting Nayak and Hampapur’s discriminatory treatment of himself and others on the basis of race and national origin. His termination was in violation of Defendant’s policy which requires progressive warnings or placement on a performance improvement plan prior to termination,” the complaint stated.

Nayak quit in July last year. Livemint first reported the latest lawsuit. Infosys refused to comment on an ongoing litigation. Nayak and Hampapur could not be reached immediately for a comment.

Infosys Raises Red Flags On Visas Across Geographies

Infosys which employees about 2,00,000 people around the world in May said that it plans to hire 10,000 Americans in the next two years.

The Bengaluru-based firm is already grappling with slower growth, adverse visa regimes, and criticism from founders, and have seen slew of senior level exit since Sikka took over in 2014.

Also Read: Infosys President Sandeep Dadlani Quits