Cognizant Technology Solutions on July 9 said that Chief Financial Officer Jatin Dalal has reached a settlement in the non-compete lawsuit filed by Wipro. Cognizant has paid $505,087 to Dalal to settle the lawsuit and related arbitration.
"The terms of the settlement, which was reached without any admission of liability by either party, are confidential. The settlement resolves all pending disputes between Mr. Dalal and Wipro," the Teaneck-based company said in a filing.
Cognizant also said that former Wipro senior vice president (SVP) Mohammad Haque's lawsuit has also been settled with Wipro.
"I am grateful for my journey with Wipro and I am pleased to have this matter behind me. I’m looking forward to continuing to drive Cognizant’s growth agenda while delivering value to our clients, employees, and shareholders,” Dalal was quoted as saying in the release.
Saurabh Govil, Chief Human Resource Officer, Wipro, said the company is happy to have settled the matter. "We are glad this issue has been resolved safeguarding our contractual rights. We wish Jatin well in his future endeavors,” Govil was quoted as saying in a release.
In November, Wipro filed a lawsuit against Dalal, accusing him of violating the non-compete clause in his employment contract by joining rival Cognizant within 12 months of his last work date. In a countermove, Dalal requested the court to refer the matter to arbitration in his application.
It was referred to arbitration by the Bengaluru City Civil Court in a hearing on January 3.
Reacting to the developments, Wipro on January 12 said there's nothing personal or targeted in the way the company is dealing with contractual obligations, referring to the lawsuits the company has filed against its former chief financial officer Jatin Dalal and senior vice-president Mohd Haque.
Haque, the former head of healthcare and medical devices for the Americas, joined rival Cognizant as its SVP and business unit head for life sciences, before the end of his non-compete clause tenure till August 1, 2023.
Wipro in its complaint had alleged that Haque had seven files with confidential information, which was sent from his personal Gmail account as flagged by its IT team.
Also read: Why Wipro sued its former CFO Jatin Dalal: Five points from the lawsuit
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