Why ex-Cognizant employees went to court: “Indian managers would turn their back”, “Spoke Hindi socially”, and more

Cognizant

On October 4, a US district court found information technology firm Cognizant guilty of discriminatory practices against non-Indians, based on a complaint by several former employees. These employees have alleged that Indian managers often spoke in Hindi to exclude non-Indians from discussions, did not invite them to group lunches, and  would deliberately turn their backs on them when they spoke during  meetings.

Moneycontrol has viewed a copy of the complaint against the  IT major, based on which the Central District Court of California has said that the company’s conduct meets the standard for punitive damages.

The jury's verdict in this decade-old class-action suit is based on a complaint by the Washington D.C.-based boutique litigation firm Kotchen & Low on behalf of four former employees, who said they were discriminated against for not being Indian.

Certain employees said they were terminated after the company put them on the bench, a term used in the IT industry for employees who are temporarily without a project.

These employees — Christy Palmer, Vartan Piroumian, Edward Cox, and Jean-Claude Franchitti — were allegedly terminated on flimsy grounds.

Franchitti alleges that he signed hundreds of invitation letters — most of which were fraudulent — that were used by the company to help secure US visas for its Indian workforce.

The former employees also allege that non-Indians were promoted less frequently and subject to a hostile work environment by the Indian employees.

The company has denied the allegations and stated that the verdict was disappointing.

"Cognizant is disappointed with the verdict and plans to vigorously defend itself and appeal at the appropriate time. We provide equal employment opportunities for all employees and have built a diverse and inclusive workplace that promotes a culture of belonging, in which all employees feel valued, are engaged, and have the opportunity to develop and succeed," a company spokesperson said.

A source said evidence presented at the trial mentioned that statistical evidence shows non-South Asians were 8.4 times more likely to be involuntarily terminated from the bench than South Asians.

"There is reasonable cause to believe that since December 4, 2014 Respondent discriminated against a nation-wide class of non-Indian applicants by refusing to hire them on the basis of their race and national origin and against a nation-wide class of non-Indian employees on the basis of race and national origin by removing them from assignments that that they were qualified for, refusing to assign them to new projects, and terminating them when they remained unassigned," the source said citing a U.S. government finding at the trial.

Further, an internal powerpoint accessed by Moneycontrol shows a survey reporting favoritism towards Indians, for e.g.: “Account leads don’t want to work with non-Indian.” The presentation proposed relying on Indian visa holders for staffing projects.

Back in December 2012, Palmer joined Cognizant in Tucson, Arizona, with nearly two decades of advanced training and experience. She rose to a managerial position, where she oversaw client projects and teams. Palmer had been hired for her leadership and technical skills, but soon after joining she began noticing discriminatory practices at Cognizant.

One of Palmer’s main allegations is that she was removed from projects and replaced by less-qualified south Asian / Indian employees. In early 2013, she was asked to relocate to Cerritos, California, to oversee a client project.

Palmer was unexpectedly replaced by an Indian employee just four months into her role, despite successfully managing the project. This was the first in a series of replacements that Palmer experienced.

Palmer also observed how non-south Asian employees were benched and later replaced by south Asian / Indian workers once projects were on a firm footing. As a manager, whenever Palmer requested specific non-Indian employees to fill certain roles, she would be disappointed.

For example, Palmer had requested a non-south Asian employee for an Enterprise Architect's role for a client project in 2016. However, the Cognizant leadership assigned the role to a less-qualified Indian visa holder despite the non-Indian employee’s qualifications.

Palmer has also alleged that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and “was often the only non-south Asian and non-Indian employee at work, and was excluded from meetings, group lunches, and after-work events.” Further, she says that Indian managers would deliberately turn their backs on her when she spoke during meetings.

In 2016, she helped the company win deals worth over $10 million but was still given a poor rating, which led to her being forced into “coaching classes” instead of being promoted.

The chain of events eventually culminated in her resignation in December 2016.

An IT professional with over 30 years of experience in software engineering and architecture, Piroumian joined Cognizant in April 2012. An MIT alumni, he had published papers on Java.  But during his time at the company, Piroumian  was repeatedly replaced by Indian employees in a number of client projects.

For instance, a little after he joined, and despite his strong performance, Piroumian alleges he was removed from a project and replaced by a less-qualified Indian.

Piroumian observed that Cognizant's all-Indian account teams often favoured Indian employees in key roles, regardless of their qualifications.

Piroumian made multiple complaints to his managers about the discrimination he faced but was ignored. His Indian-origin manager discouraged him from questioning the management's decisions and failed to take action when Piroumian raised issues about unfair treatment.

By 2017, Piroumian found himself on the bench for long periods and was ultimately terminated in August that year.

Cognizant’s discriminatory conduct has caused Piroumian ``to seek medical treatment for stress, anxiety, and sleep-related issues,” his complaint says.

Cox had over 35 years of experience when he joined Cognizant in January 2014 as an Infrastructure Engagement Manager. He had expertise in managing large-scale IT services, staffing, and sales.

Despite his seniority and qualifications, Cox has alleged that he faced a work environment that was hostile to non-Indian employees.

From the beginning of his tenure, Cox noticed that his Indian managers frequently excluded him from discussions. His first manager routinely spoke over him in client meetings and conducted much of the conversation in Hindi, a language Cox did not understand. The use of Hindi became a recurring issue, as it excluded Cox from important work-related conversations.

His situation did not improve when he reported the matter to other Indian managers.

In late 2016, Cox was left out of Cognizant’s annual pre-sales kickoff meeting, which he had attended in previous years. This  prevented him from contributing to the company’s sales strategy, further isolating him from his team.

In early 2017, Cox was placed on the bench.

During this period, Cox was interviewed for multiple roles within Cognizant but was consistently passed over in favour of less-qualified Indian employees. For instance, Cox was asked to prepare a presentation for a client, but after doing so, he was not allowed to present it. Instead, a less-experienced Indian employee was sent for the job.

Eventually, Cox was terminated from Cognizant in April 2017 with no severance.

Cox alleges that although Cognizant informed him that his termination was due to his prolonged period on the bench, he was ``actually terminated because of Cognizant’s preference for employees of south Asian race and Indian national origin.”

With over 40 years of experience in  the IT industry, computer science professional Jean-Claude Franchitti joined Cognizant in April 2007. He held a director-level position and was later promoted to Assistant Vice President (AVP) in 2011.

Franchitti was primarily responsible for supervising teams, managing client relationships, and generating new business. He claims that his work helped generate revenues worth $20 million.

Franchitti alleges that he faced discriminatory practices at work, because in spite of his contributions, he was never promoted after being made AVP as the majority of promotions  went to Indian employees.

During his tenure, Franchitti also raised concerns about Cognizant’s visa practices. As part of his role, he was required to sign invitation letters used to support H-1B visa applications for employees in India. These letters certified that the employees would report directly to him at Cognizant’s Teaneck, New Jersey, location.

However, Franchitti soon realised that the jobs listed in these letters often did not exist, and the employees were not working under his supervision.

Franchitti alleges that 99 percent of the letters he was asked to sign were fraudulent.

The company continued submitting these letters despite his objections, which ensured that a large number of Indians got visas. These people were then used to replace non-Indian workers in the US.

In July 2016, without prior notice or being placed on the bench, Franchitti was terminated from Cognizant.

While Kotchen & Low said that Cognizant’s actions constitute unlawful discrimination on the basis of race and national origin, Cognizant has refuted the charges. It remains to be seen how the case pans out once Cognizant appeals, as it has previously resulted in a deadlocked jury.