The ruling is likely to make visa approval for foreigners more stringent in the US and will impact US technology companies, which rely on H-1B visas to hire thousands of employees globally, particularly from India and China
A US court has found the multinational IT firm Cognizant Technology Solutions guilty of discriminating against non-Indian workers. The verdict delivered by the Los Angeles court stated that the IT firm exploited the loopholes present in H-1B visas and favoured South Asians in employment decisions. Consequently, the court has asked the company to pay compensation to the affected employees, Bloomberg reported.
The company is dissatisfied by the judgement. A Cognizant spokesperson said the company is likely to appeal against it.
“We provide equal employment opportunities for all employees and have built a diverse and inclusive workplace that promotes a culture of belonging in which all employees feel valued, are engaged and have the opportunity to develop and succeed,” said Jeff DeMarrais in an emailed statement.
The lawsuit was filed by three employees who identified as ‘Caucasian’ and complained regarding unfair treatment by the company. The employees said they were employed but weren’t assigned any work. Subsequently, after three weeks, they were replaced by workers from India.
Additionally, the workers accused the company of using H-1B visas to prioritise South Asians. The H-1B visa program plays a significant role in the US economy as it permits American companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers in specialised occupations. The US technology companies rely on it to hire thousands of employees globally particularly from India and China. According to citizenship and immigration services, the IT firm Cognizant had the highest number of H-1B visas of any US employer between 2013 and 2019, Bloomberg reported.
The ruling is likely to make visa approval for foreigners more stringent. Earlier this year, the US government announced a major overhaul of its annual lottery for the H-1B specialty occupation visas to make the process of registration and allotment cleaner. Earlier, an individual would apply to multiple companies and it would result in several applications. The method made the selection process more disorganised and loopholes were abused by some employers.
Presently, under the reformed process, even if the individual files multiple applications for various companies, it would be counted as one application based on the applicants’ personal credentials, like passport numbers.
“The improvements in the areas should make H-1B selections more equitable for petitioners and beneficiaries and will allow for the H-1B process to be fully electronic from registration, if applicable, until final decision and transmission of approved petitions to the Department of State,” said USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou.