Infosys Accused of Employee Discrimination, Former Worker Repeatedly Called "Stupid American"

IT outsourcing firm Infosys has been accused of discrimination against "stupid Americans" and is currently facing a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by VMware specialist Brenda Koehler in the U.S. District Court in Eastern Wisconsin who claimed that Infosys has been abusing the visa system and actively discriminates against hiring American workers for staff positions.

A former employee at Infosys claimed up to 90 per cent of the company's workers were not locally hired. The staff are brought to the U.S. under the H1-B visa program or allowed to work illegally using B-1 business visas.

The lawsuit also indicated that Infosys has grown its workforce by directly discriminating against people who are not from South Asia. Rather than hiring qualified workers who are already living in the United States, Infosys chose to use the B-1 visa system to bring in South Asian workers into the country. The company lets them work even though it's not allowed by their visa status.

Ms. Koehler is an experienced network specialist who holds a BA and MA in computer science. She applied for a job with the company. During Ms. Koehler's interview which was rescheduled at the last minute, the interviewer of the company claimed she had no experience in critical areas like Microsoft's Active Directory. The job she applied for was eventually given to a Bangladeshi engineer.

This type of discriminatory practice and other allegations by former employees is a strong indication of a deeply-rooted culture of discrimination in the India-owned company, according to the lawsuit.

Jay Palmer, a former staff of Infosys who failed in his legal action against the firm, has claimed he was called a "stupid American" repeatedly. During a board meeting, he saw other staff wrote "No Americans/Christians".

Mr Palmer also claimed to know that Infosys hired staff in South Asia and brought them to the U.S. on B1-visas. The B1-visa is only for foreign nationals who enter the U.S. to attend meetings and conferences. The former employee also claimed Infosys would ask the staff to create false invitation letters of company events so those who are hired outside of the country can enter.

The class-action lawsuit is asking for an injunction against the company hiring more staff abroad until allegations of discrimination have been addressed. The company is also asked to find a valid way of hiring workers in the U.S.

Danielle D'Angelo, spokesperson for Infosys, said the company denies Ms Koehler's allegations of discrimination. He said Infosys is a company that provides equal opportunities. Ms. D'Angelo said the company is looking forward to address the matter in court.