Tech Mahindra: Tech Mahindra’s US subsidiary to face claims of bias against non-South Asian workers – Times of India

A US appeals court has reportedly revived a lawsuit by a white former employee of IT services company Tech Mahindra Ltd’s US subsidiary, alleging that the company discriminates against non-South Asian workers. According to a report in news agency Reuters, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals said the judge who dismissed Lee Williams‘ 2020 proposed class action applied the wrong standard in determining that he had not adequately alleged a violation of federal civil rights law.
US District Judge Brian Martinotti in Newark dismissed the case in 2021, saying Williams had not stated a claim for discrimination. The judge also said Williams had waited too long to sue, and an exception for plaintiffs who had previously sought to participate in a separate class action did not apply.
Williams then appealed and the 3rd Circuit reversed Martinotti’s ruling. The panel said that Martinotti failed to address Williams’ alternative claim that the window for him to file the lawsuit should have been extended because he initially sought to sue in North Dakota, which was the wrong forum because he was from New Jersey. The court remanded the case to Martinotti to consider that argument and to apply the correct standard to determine whether Williams had stated a claim under Section 1981.
What is the lawsuit about
Williams filed the lawsuit in New Jersey federal court in the year 2020 accusing Tech Mahindra of violating Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 by discriminating against workers who are not of South Asian descent in hiring, promotions and terminations. In the lawsuit, Williams alleged that he was fired in 2015 for failing to meet sales goals while South Asian workers with similar records kept their jobs.
Tech Mahindra’s US subsidiary has more than 5,000 employees and 90% of them are South Asian, according to filings in the case.