Tech Giant Cisco sued over Caste discrimination

Cisco spokeswoman Robyn Blum told Reuters that the company would “vigorously defend itself” and that Cisco is committed to an inclusive workplace for all and in compliance with all laws as well as its own policies.

Rohit|Bengaluru|01 June 2020

On June 30, A federal lawsuit was filed against Cisco Systems and two former employees for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation of an employee due to his caste by the State Government of California.

The lawsuit filed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) alleges that, Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, ex Cisco managers discriminated and harassed the employee on basis of their caste status. All of them were working at Cisco’s headquarters based in San Jose, which has a large number of employees from India.

The case which has been filed in a federal court in San Jose does not have the name of the employee. According to a Reuters report, it states that the victim has been a principal engineer at Cisco’s headquarters since October 2015. The employee has accused the former managers of harassment and for enforcing caste hierarchy in the organisation.

The report also states that the employee reported Sundar Iyer to the HR in November 2016. After reporting the issue, the employee was reportedly isolated and reassigned. His pay raises and promotions were denied. At that moment, Cisco determined caste discrimination was not illegal and these issues continued till 2018.

The lawsuit claimed that this is not an isolated incident and that a 2018 survey of South Asians in the US found that 67% of Dalits reported being treated unfairly at their American workplaces.

According to the report, when this employee reported the issue, the company reportedly reassigned and isolated the employee, allegedly rejected a raise and opportunities that would have led to one and also was denied promotions.

Cisco spokeswoman Robyn Blum told Reuters that the company would “vigorously defend itself” and that Cisco is committed to an inclusive workplace for all and in compliance with all laws as well as its own policies.

In a statement released by Director of DFEH, Kevin Kish, he said “It is unacceptable for workplace conditions and opportunities to be determined by a hereditary social status determined by birth. Employers must be prepared to prevent, remedy, and deter unlawful conduct against workers because of caste,”

Recently, Cisco announced that they would donate $5Million to various charities fighting against discrimination and racism. Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins had