California accuses Cisco of job discrimination based on Indian employee's caste
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California regulators
sued Cisco Systems Inc on Tuesday, accusing it of discriminating against
an Indian-American employee and allowing him to be harassed by two
managers because he was from a lower Indian caste than them.
US employment law does
not specifically bar caste-based discrimination, but California's
Department of Fair Employment and Housing contends in the lawsuit that
the Hindu faith's lingering caste system is based on protected classes
such as religion.
The lawsuit, filed in
federal court in San Jose, does not name the alleged victim. It states
he has been a principal engineer at Cisco's San Jose headquarters since
October 2015 and that he was born at the bottom of caste hierarchy as a
Dalit, once called "untouchables".
Like other large
Silicon Valley employers, Cisco's workforce includes thousands of Indian
immigrants, most of whom were born Brahmins or other high castes.
Former Cisco
engineering managers Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella also are defendants
in the lawsuit, which accuses them of harassment for internally
enforcing the caste hierarchy.
"We were fully in compliance with all laws as well as our own policies."
Iyer and Kompella did
not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately
known if the two have retained attorneys.
The civil rights group
Equality Labs in a 2018 report cited in the lawsuit found that 67% of
Dalits surveyed felt treated unfairly at their US workplaces.
At Cisco, the unnamed
employee reported Iyer to human resources in November 2016 for outing
him as a Dalit to colleagues. Iyer allegedly retaliated, but Cisco
determined caste discrimination was not illegal and issues continued
through 2018, the lawsuit states.
Cisco reassigned and
isolated the employee, rejected a raise and opportunities that would
have led to one and denied two promotions, according to the lawsuit.
Hindus traditionally
grouped people into four major castes based on ancestry, and Dalits in
India still struggle with access to education and jobs 65 years after
India banned caste-based discrimination.
Deccan Herald