New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services found themselves at the centre of a row in the US with American workers alleging that the company “illegally discriminated against them based on their race and age, firing them and shifting some of their work to lower-paid Indian immigrants on temporary work visas.”
In a report by The Wall Street Journal, experienced American professionals have accused the tech giant of firing them on short notice and filling many of their roles with workers from India on H1-B visas. Since late December, at least 22 workers have filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against TCS, the report stated.
The workers have alleged that TCS has illegally fired, at short notice, several Caucasians, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans between ages 40 to 60 years in over a dozen states in the country. While some complainants have also alleged that their projects or parts of their work were shifted to “lower-paid Indian immigrants on temporary work visas,” others have said that the work was handed over to “younger, less-experienced Indian nationals on H-1B visas.”
Some former workers also told the Wall Street Journal that despite years of good performances in multiple sectors, last year they were abruptly taken off their projects. Others said that efforts to find new assignments for themselves within the company were actively thwarted by the firm’s management.
A TCS spokesperson told Wall Street Journal that the allegations are unfounded and TCS has a history of being an equal opportunity employer in the US. However, the complainants have cited in their statements comments made by TCS’s global human resources head Milind Lakkad. He had said in an interview last year that the company is looking to provide more opportunities to Indians in the US and reduce the number of Americans it employs.
Over the last three months, at least 22 workers who have faced such treatment at TCS have filed complaints against the IT firm to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Washington, D.C.-based EEOC enforces federal laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace and can pursue federal charges.
The H-1B visa programme, for foreign skilled workers, has long since agitated the American workforce who claim native workers are being replaced by foreign ones with less qualifications. The visa, which is applied for on behalf of the workers by the companies, does not require the company to show the lack of American workers qualified for the post
Agencies

Agencies