BENGALURU: A group of experienced
American professionals
has accused
TCS
of firing them on short notice and filling many of their roles with workers from India on H1-B visas, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The American workers alleged that TCS illegally discriminated against them based on their race and age, firing them and shifting some of their work to lower-paid Indian immigrants on temporary work visas.
At least 22 workers have filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against TCS since late Dec, alleging preferential treatment towards those on H-1B visas. The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws that prohibit
discrimination
against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or genetic information.
When TOI reached out to TCS to inquire whether American professionals were discriminated against, its spokesperson said, “Allegations that TCS engages in unlawful discrimination are meritless and misleading. TCS has a strong track record of being an equal opportunity employer in the US, embodying the highest levels of integrity and values in our operations.”
“While companies often conduct
layoffs
that affect workers with more seniority, the American professionals say TCS broke the law by targeting them based on protected characteristics of age & race. They argue that the company’s actions demonstrated preferential treatment toward
Indian workers
in the US on the coveted visas,” the WSJ report said.
Another frequently repeated accusation has been that Indian firms abuse the
H-1B visa
process to bring workers of Indian descent to the US rather than hiring locals. However, data shows an increase in US hiring for most IT players as part of the effort to overcome visa hurdles. In 2018, TCS won an
employment discrimination
case after a court in California acquitted the company of charges that it had shown bias toward Indian employees over US residents.