A jury has found that a company that supplies thousands of workers to the Silicon Valley technology industry and other Bay Area employers intentionally discriminated against non-Indian workers.
The jury verdict against Cognizant, which was founded in Chennai and is currently headquartered in New Jersey, was handed down Friday in a class action lawsuit centered on allegations that the company abused the H-1B visa process. The visa is aimed at workers with specialized skills and helps Silicon Valley tech companies not only retain top talent but also acquire workers for lower-level jobs through Cognizant and other staffing agencies. A lot depends on this visa.
The three U.S.-born workers, described in the lawsuit as “white,” Vartan Pirmian of California, Christie Palmer of Arizona, and Edward Cox of Texas, were arrested in Los Angeles in 2017. He sued Cognizant in federal district court. Another plaintiff, Jean-Claude, who is listed as white, was later joined as plaintiffs by Franchitti, a green card holder from France.
The lawsuit alleges that Cognizant first removed many non-Indian workers from the project, “fired” them without giving them any work, and then fired the workers until it was terminated in accordance with company policy.
Cognizant said Monday it was “disappointed with the ruling” and would appeal.
The company says, “We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce that fosters a culture of belonging where all employees feel valued, engaged, and have opportunities to grow and succeed.” We have created a workplace that is inclusive.” “Cognizant does not tolerate discrimination and takes such claims seriously.”
Federal government data shows Cognizant gets H-1B visas to hundreds of Indian nationals a year to work in Bay Area jobs, says the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which studies the visas. said Howard University professor Ron Hira, who testified for the side. According to 2023 data, Cognizant placed H-1B holders with Bay Area employers ranging from Google, Meta, and Apple to PG&E, Kaiser Permanente, and Walmart.
H-1B has become a political flashpoint. Critics point to abuses such as the substitution of U.S. workers by visa holders, while the tech industry is lobbying to raise the annual cap on new visas to more than 85,000.
A recent study by the Bay Area Council shows that approximately 60,000 foreign nationals on H-1Bs were approved to work for Bay Area companies in 2019. The majority are from India.
Cognizant is seeking as many visas as possible because it prioritizes Indian workers, and the company has become the top recipient of H-1B visas by filing visa applications related to “jobs that don’t exist.” the lawsuit alleges.
H-1B rules require companies applying for H-1B to have jobs for visa holders, Hilla noted. Obtaining a visa for a job that doesn’t exist “keeps out the companies that are really looking for the people they want,” Hilla said.
Pirmian, an experienced software engineer, joined Cognizant in 2012 and was “repeatedly and prematurely removed from positions serving Cognizant customers and replaced with less qualified Indian employees,” the lawsuit alleges. It is claimed. The complaint alleges that the company “fired” him in mid-2017 and then terminated him six weeks later, in line with company policy of terminating employees who have worked for more than five weeks.
Cox, who also has decades of experience, joined Cognizant in 2014 and was removed from the bench in January 2017, according to the complaint. He interviewed for several open positions within the company, but “less qualified Indian…employees were chosen” and he was fired while on the bench in April of that year, the lawsuit alleges.
Palmer, who was hired in 2012, has not only been removed from the bench, but has also been “repeatedly removed” from projects, including after a forced relocation from Tucson, Ariz., to California, and after a reassignment from California to Phoenix at Cognizant’s request. and replaced with Indian workers. The lawsuit alleges:
Palmer also claimed that she was deliberately excluded from most team meetings and was invited several times, but that when she spoke, the Indian manager turned his back on her, the complaint alleges. She claimed discrimination and a hostile work environment forced her to resign in 2016.
Franchitti, who has a doctorate in computer science, was hired in 2007 and spent nine years as a director and executive at Cognizant, where he witnessed the company favoring Indian nationals with visas, the complaint alleges. . When he secured new business for his company, his manager told him to “refer to the client’s employees who held visas from India rather than non-Indian members of Mr. Franchitti’s group who were already in the United States and could do this work.” It will be placed in the project.” A lawsuit has been filed.
Franchitti was fired in 2016 after repeatedly complaining that he was made to sign hundreds of fraudulent invitations to support H-1B visa applications for non-existent jobs, according to the complaint.
The alleged fraudulent letters are part of Cognizant’s plan to secure vast numbers of H-1B visas and build a “robust inventory” of Indians who could be placed with U.S. companies if given the opportunity, the complaint says. claims.
“These individuals receive preferential, if not exclusive, priority when new positions become available in the United States,” the lawsuit claimed. “While Indians are given jobs, non-Indians are disproportionately relegated to the bench.”
Most of Cognizant’s U.S. employees are on visas, and for the most part “there is an abundance of capable, qualified American workers who are able and willing to do the work,” Hilla said.
The jury recommended that the court award punitive damages to Cognizant.
First published: October 7, 2024 at 4:26 p.m.
