Complaint accuses firm of discriminating in favour of South Asians

India’s second-largest IT exporter Infosys may have to face another legal battle in the U.S. as the company’s former head of immigration filed a lawsuit for alleged employee discrimination by senior management of the company.

The plaintiff, Eric Green, joined Infosys in October 2011, served in the company till June 28, 2016 and was employed in Infosys’ Plano, Texas office. Mr. Green has filed the lawsuit before a U.S. district court in the Eastern District of Texas.

In his plaint, Mr. Green has alleged that Infosys shows intentional employment discrimination against individuals who are not South Asian, including discrimination in the hiring, promotion, compensation and termination of individuals. According to the suit filed by Kilgore & Kilgore, a law firm based in Texas, Mr. Green was assigned the task of analysing and rectifying all H-1B, L-1, I-9 and other U.S. immigration compliance-related issues. In mid-2012, Mr. Green was permanently appointed to the United States Immigration Operations role in the company.

When contacted, Infosys said it “does not comment on ongoing litigation.” The fresh lawsuit follows Infosys’ announcement of its plan to hire 10,000 people in the U.S. Earlier, in 2011, former Infosys employee Jay Palmer had filed a whistle-blower complaint alleging misuse of visas by Infosys.

In his petition, Mr. Green has raised charges against two senior executives of Infosys, Vasudeva Nayak, head of global immigration and Binod Hampapur, executive vice president and global head of talent and technology operations.

‘In retaliation’

“Plaintiff was terminated because of defendant’s 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,” the complaint said.