https://www.siliconvalley.com/2024/...discriminated-against-non-indians-jury-finds/
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H-1B visa: Company supplying thousands of tech workers to Silicon Valley discriminated against non-Indians, jury finds
Non-Indians 'benched' then fired, lawsuit claimed
By Ethan Baron | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group
UPDATED: October 8, 2024 at 4:58 a.m.
A company that supplies thousands of workers for Silicon Valley’s technology industry and other Bay Area employers intentionally discriminated against non-Indian workers, a jury has found.
The jury verdict against Cognizant, founded in Chennai and now headquartered in New Jersey, came Friday in a class-action lawsuit that revolved around claims the firm abused the H-1B visa process. The visa is intended for workers with specialized skills, and Silicon Valley tech firms rely on it heavily to secure top talent and also to obtain workers for lower-level jobs via Cognizant and other staffing firms.
Three U.S.-born workers described in the lawsuit as “Caucasian” — Vartan Piroumian of California, Christy Palmer of Arizona and Edward Cox of Texas — sued Cognizant in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in 2017. Another plaintiff described as Caucasian, Jean-Claude Franchitti, a green card holder from France, joined as a plaintiff later.
The lawsuit claimed Cognizant ousted many non-Indian workers by first taking them off projects and “benching” them without work, then keeping them benched until firing them in accordance with a company policy.