tcs: TCS gets some relief in discrimination lawsuit

A New Jersey court has granted Tata Consultancy Services partial relief in a lawsuit alleging discrimination against non-South Asian employees. In December 2022, a former employee, Shawn Katz filed a lawsuit against TCS alleging a pattern or practice of discriminating against individuals who are not South Asian or Indian by favoring them in hiring and employment decisions.

Katz, who worked with TCS for over 9 years, has claimed that he was fired for not finding right opportunities within the organisation due to a lack of assistance from the hiring teams that allocate employees to various projects.

“As the matter is sub judice, we will not be able to comment,” TCS spokespersons said in response to ET queries.

Katz alleged that TCS engages in a systematic pattern or practice of discrimination against non-South Asian and non-Indian applicants and employees with respect to hiring, staffing, benching, termination and promotion decisions.

On March 3, Katz filed an amended complaint on behalf of himself and of a class of “ non-South Asians and non-Indians who were employed by TCS, and met the criteria for a promotion, but were not promoted, and/or were employed by TCS and were involuntarily terminated,” said the court filing seen by ET.

Katz alleged disparate impact and demanded injunctive relief and punitive damages. On August 10th, the court dismissed Katz’ claim of disparate impact which alleges that the company has a policy that adversely impacts a protected class.

Title VII, under which this was claimed, prohibits both intentional discrimination (known as ‘disparate treatment’) as well as, in some cases, practices that are not intended to discriminate but in fact have a disproportionately adverse effect on minorities (known as ‘disparate impact’). “Here, Katz “fails to state a claim for disparate impact under Title VII because his allegations sound more in disparate treatment,” said the court order.

TCS also argued Katz does not have standing to seek injunctive relief because he has failed to show that he was actively seeking reinstatement with TCS, or that he is presently being harmed by any action of TCS. The court has denied TCS’ argument.

“The Court agrees and finds that a former employee seeking reinstatement with a former employer has standing to seek injunctive relief,” said the court order. The court has also denied TCS’s motion to dismiss all claims based on discriminatory hiring or placement made by Katz.

Katz has alleged that TCS’ talent acquisition strategies are designed to attract and favor Indian candidates. It further states that TCS offers better career growth opportunities to candidates on visas over non-Indian and non-South Asian candidates. He claimed that the company was intentionally securing work visas for South Asian employees located outside of the US and then preferentially utilizing these visa-holding employees over non-visa-holding employees for positions in the US.

In 2018, a California district court ruled in favor of TCS in a similar lawsuit filed by three former employees.

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