A disgruntled and upset Indian engineer has taken a legal route to take on his employers. The engineer, who hasn’t been named, claims that Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O allowed discrimination against him.
While the Coronavirus continues to be a major reason for unemployment, unhappiness at the workplace must be avoided. Employers need to appreciate their staff and do what is necessary for their happiness and productiveness.
However, harassment attorneys in California know all too well that employees are not always respected. This seems to be the case for the unnamed engineer who feels his rights have been violated.
Discrimination Influenced by Old Beliefs
Cisco sued after two former managers allegedly discriminate against the engineer.
The unhappy employee was a principal engineer at the San Jose headquarters for Cisco. According to him, the company did not act properly after he reported his problems in 2016.
He apparently approached the company’s human resources department when an engineering manager, Sundar Iyer, revealed personal information. The complainant was born into the Dalit caste.
Traditionally, Hindus grouped people into four major castes. The grouping was based on ancestry. Those born in lower castes found it much harder to get access to jobs and education.
Although India banned discrimination based on castes 65 years ago, citizens continue to face difficulties because of this belief.
The engineer feels that he was discriminated against solely because of the belief that those born to the Dalit caste are lower than others.
Cisco, like many other companies in California, employes many Indian immigrants and most of them are from high castes.
The lawsuit claims that Iyer and another manager, Ramana Kompella, enforced the caste beliefs and as such discriminated against the anonymous engineer.
Furthermore, it has alleged that instead of taking on the matter, the company find that caste discrimination wasn’t illegal. As a result, the discrimination continued. This would be a serious matter to a California attorney for harassment in the workplace.
After this, Iyer allegedly retaliated after reported. The complainant stated that he reassigned and isolated. He also denied two promotions and an increase rejected.
Cisco’s Reaction
Robyn Blum, the company’s spokesperson, stated that it is focused on creating an inclusive workplace. She said Cisco followed processes to look into employee concerns and it will defend itself ‘vigorously’.
Although American employment law doesn’t state that caste-influenced discrimination prohibits, there is the legal footing for a lawsuit.
As a California attorney for harassment in the workplace would know, the law does protect classes such as religion. The old Hindu belief in castes can categorize under religion.
This kind of problem is not a new or unique one. As reported by the civil rights group Equality Labs in a 2018 report, Dalits still feel discriminated against. About 67% of them think they treat unfairly in American workplaces.
