Former Infy head of immigration in US files lawsuit against company

The former head of immigration of Infosys Ltd in the US has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging employee discrimination and retaliation by senior management, and sought damages from the firm.

Erin Green, who joined Infosys in 2011 and was head of immigration in US before being asked to leave last year, filed a lawsuit on June 19 before a US District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, seeking for a trial by a jury.

Green’s complaint against Infosys questioning discrimination against non-Asian employees at the company is an embarrassment for the management led by chief executive Vishal Sikka, who is trying to hard-sell Infosys in the US as part of the firm’s intent to hire 10,000 Americans in the coming two years. Nor does a complaint by former head of immigration alleging racial discrimination help the cause of Infosys which, like many other Indian outsourcing firms, is dealing with US President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” policy.

As part of his complaint, Green questioned the manner in which Infosys decided to fire him, and raised charges against two of Infosys’s senior executives, Vasudeva Nayak, then head of global immigration and Binod Hampapur, executive vice president and global head of talent and technology operations of Infosys.

Green reported into Nayak, before Nayak left last year.

“Plaintiff (Green) was terminated because of Defendant’s (Infosys) obsessional preference for employees of South Asian race and national origin, usually Indian, and as retaliation for reporting Nayak and Hampapur’s discriminatory treatment of himself and others on the basis of national origin,” reads a statement from the 53-page complaint filed by Green’s counsel Kilgore & Kilgore, PLLC.

Mint has reviewed a copy of the complaint.

An Infosys spokesperson did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.