A company that supplies thousands of workers for Silicon Valley’s technology industry and other Bay Area employers intentionally discriminated against non-Indian workers, a jury has found.
The lawsuit claimed Cognizant ousted many non-Indian workers by first taking them off projects and “benching” them without work, then keeping them benched until firing them in accordance with a company policy.“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,” the company said.
Because of Cognizant’s preference for Indian workers, it seeks as many visas as possible, and the company has become a top recipient of H-1B visas by submitting visa applications tied to “jobs that do not exist,” the lawsuit alleged. Cox, also with decades of experience, started at Cognizant in 2014, and was benched in January 2017, the lawsuit said. He interviewed for several open roles in the company, but “less qualified Indian … employees were selected,” and he was fired while benched that April, the lawsuit alleged.
Franchitti, with a PhD in computer science, was hired in 2007, and in his nine years at Cognizant as a director an executive, witnessed the company’s preference for Indians on visas, the lawsuit claimed. When he secured new business for the company, his manager “would staff the client projects with visa-holding employees from India, rather than non-Indian members of Mr. Franchitti’s group who were already in the U.S. and available for this work,” the lawsuit alleged.
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