Infosys sued by former US employees over Hindi bias
The case has been filed against Infosys Technologies and Infosys Public Services
New Delhi: Former US employees of India's leading software services firm Infosys have filed a lawsuit against it alleging discrimination because of their inability to communicate in Hindi, a charge denied by the company as "false and baseless."
Layla Bolten, Gregor Handloser and two more employees have filed the case. Bolten was hired as a tester, while Handloser was hired by Infosys in 2004 as a sales manager.
According to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Eastern District of Wisconsin, the former employees alleged that they were "excluded" from work conversations by their supervisors and co-workers who "regularly spoke in Hindi" in front of them.
Bolten also alleged that a vast majority of test lead positions for the project were filled with South Asian workers (mostly Indians), who had less experience with software testing than her.
Besides, Bolten and Handloser, the other two plaintiffs are Brenda Koehler and Kelly Parker. The case has been filed against Infosys Technologies and Infosys Public Services. All the plaintiffs are US citizens.