A former employee of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has filed a class action lawsuit against the Indian IT giant, alleging that the company discriminates against non-South Asian and non-Indian candidates and employees. The employee, Shaun Katz, claims that TCS has a systematic policy of discrimination that affects hiring, staffing, benching, dismissal and promotion decisions. Katz, who was fired from TCS after nine years of service, also claims that the company has a disproportionately high number of South Asian employees, with 70 per cent of TCS workers in the US being South Asian, compared to the 12-13 per cent average in the wider US IT sector. This is the second time TCS has faced such allegations.
In his lawsuit, Katz alleges that TCS has a systematic policy of discrimination that is implemented throughout the company, affecting hiring, staffing, benching, dismissal and promotion decisions. He also claims that the company did not provide him with necessary support while he was on the bench, and that he was fired after nine years of service despite being qualified for promotion and having received recommendations from managers and clients.
Katz also raises concerns about the high proportion of South Asian employees at TCS, claiming that while only 12-13 per cent of workers in the US IT sector are South Asian, 70 per cent of TCS employees in the US are South Asian, with a high number of these being Indian workers on visas. He alleges that this ratio is evidence of discrimination against non-South Asian and non-Indian employees.
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This is the second time that TCS has faced such allegations. In 2015, the company was accused of discrimination against non-South Asian employees, but the case was dismissed by the court in 2018, with the verdict stating that there was no truth to the allegations.
A class action lawsuit is a case brought to court on behalf of a large group of people who have suffered a uniform loss. It is based on the concept of "representative litigation", in which justice is sought for the common person against a powerful adversary. The accused in such cases are typically corporations, and the plaintiffs are a group of people who have suffered the same harm as a result of the actions of the defendant.
