Details of how Cognizant discriminated against non-Indian employees surfaces: Report

More specific details of IT major Cognizant’s alleged discrimation against non-Indians have surfaced, with a Moneycontrol report citing the official complaint from Washington DC-based boutique litigation firm Kotchen & Low on behalf of four former employees containing details of their ordeal. HT couldn’t independently verify the information.

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What happened at Cognizant?

The Central District Court of California on October 04, 2024, found Cgnizant guilty of discriminatory practises against non-Indian employees, who alleged Indian managers often spoke in Hindi to exclude them from discussions, didn’t invite them to group lunches, and even turned their backs against them when they spoke during meetings.

The court ruled that the company’s conduct can makes it liable for punitive damages.

However, the company denied the allegations and stated that the verdict was disappointing.

What are the stories of the four cognizant employees?

Christy Palmer

Palmer, with nearly two decades of experience, joined Cognizant in Tucson, Arizona, in December 2012, rising to a managerial position.

Her main allegation was that she was removed from a series of projects and replaced by South Asian/Indian employees who were also less-qualified, which started just four months into her role.

She was often excluded from meetings, group lunches, and after-work events, with managers even turning their backs to her when she spoke in meetings.

In 2016, she was given a poor rating and was forced into “coaching classes” instead of being promoted, despite winning the company deals worth more than $10 million. All this eventually caused her to resign in December 2016.

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Vartan Piroumian

Vartan Piroumian, an MIT alumnus with more than 30 years of experience joined Cognizant in April 2012. There, he found himself replaced with Indian employees in a number of projects.

He complained to his managers multiple times, but was ignored, with his Indian manager discouraging him from questioning management decisions.

He ended up being terminated in August 2017, forcing him to seek medical treatment for stress, anxiety, and sleep-related issues.

Edward Cox

Edward Cox joined Cognizant in January 2014 as an Infrastructure Engagement Manager, with more than 35 years of experience.

He found Indian managers excluding him from discussions since the beginning, speaking in Hindi a lot. He was eventually terminated in April 2017 with no severance after being put on the bench and getting interviewed for multiple roles, but not being allowed to present his presentation in favour of an Indian employee.

Jean-Claude Franchitti

Jean-Claude Franchitti joined Cognizant in April 2007 with more than 40 years of experience in the IT industry, holding a director-level position and later being promoted to Assistant Vice President (AVP) in 2011.

He alleged most promotions after that went to Indian employees with him not getting one despite his work alone generating $20 million of revenue.

Most importantly, he was asked to sign invitation letters for supporting H-1B visa applications for Indian employees. However, he found many jobs in the list didn’t even exist and that 99% of the letters were fraudulent and used to bring Indian employees to replace the non-Indian ones.

He was terminated without notice in July 2016.

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