Washington, DC – Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of the leading global companies welcomed a jury verdict from the US District Court in the Northern District of California clearing the Indian company over claims of anti-American bias.
Expressing gratitude over the decision, Arushie Sinha, Manager – Corporate Communications, said in a statement to IAT , “We have always maintained, the claims made in this case were baseless and we are gratified that the jury agreed.”
TCS reflected on its global success saying, “The success of TCS rests on the talents, expertise and deep industry knowledge of our employees, who help our customers in their growth and transformation journeys. So the decisions we make about the hiring and retention of employees are based purely on their capabilities and fit in serving our customers’ business needs.”
Answering the questions if the TCS discriminated against 1) non-South Asian employees, on the basis of race, and 2) non-Indian employees on the basis of national origin – in both cases – who were benched and then terminated, the jury choose “no” as the answer.
“Irrespective of their background or national origin, we will continue to invest in our people, provide ongoing digital training and empower them to succeed at TCS and, more importantly, enable our customers’ success,” Sinha noted in the TCS statement.
The jury trial started on November 5 and deliberations began on the day and the jury as per scheduled returned back on November 28 with the verdict in favor of TCS.
Highlighting the “global” nature of the company and noting that the “United States is the world’s business and technology leader and very important to TCS, where we have been operating for over 40 years,” the TCS statement stressed, “Skilled American workers are critical to the success of the US business and to the nation’s economic success, and we will continue to invest heavily in the country’s workforce, academic alliances and our extensive youth STEM education initiatives.”
The case verdict, first of its kind, now would be closely watched as several other top Indian IT firms like HCL Technologies Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. face similar charges in the US courts.
Commenting on the case and the equations with deep rooted Indian culture, Ravi Batra, an eminent American attorney of Indian origin said, “The beauty of the Indian culture is that it it incorporates every other culture, as if it was its own, and as a result, becomes richer. To suggest, as this case did, that Indian Americans discriminate against non-Indian Americans, is as a matter of fact and history false and frivolous. The beauty is that the United States of America has as its creed: e pluribus unum, out of many, one.
Welcoming the jury decision, Batra elaborated: “So is it any wonder, that a fair and impartial American jury made mincemeat of the derogatory defamation of both a people and of the proud history of respectful inclusion in India. It is worth noting, that the oldest synagogue in the world is in India. Every religion and every culture finds a welcome home in India and in the Indian culture. That India and the United States have a joint destiny, ought to be self evident to the blind and deaf; no offense to either.“
According to Indian market reports there was a surge in the TCS share price, propelling it to the top spot as the most-valued Indian company by market capitalization.
Tejinder Singh, Editor, India America Today & White House Correspondent