Ex-employee alleges Infy of being culturally insensitive
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 27 November 2009, 22:19 IST   |    11 Comments
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Ex-employee alleges Infy of being culturally insensitive
Fremont: Promila Awasthi, a Silicon Valley based computer consultant, has filed a lawsuit in a California court against her former employer - the Fremont arm of Infosys Technologies. In the lawsuit filed on Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, Promila, an India-born American citizen, alleged that her former bosses mocked her for observing American holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and refused to pay her overtime according to California law. In the lawsuit against the Indian tech giant, Promila alleged that Infosys management routinely disparaged Americans, including her, as not having 'family values,' and stated that layoffs in America are good because the jobs will be outsourced. This culturally insensitive picture of Infosys is quite a contrast compared to its ambition to not only spread its wings in the U.S. but elsewhere in the world, too. Promila, who worked at Infosys from February to November 2008, in her lawsuit said, 'intolerable' working conditions forced her to quit. Promila alleged that Infosys management told her not to celebrate Thanksgiving because she is an Indian, and therefore should work on that day. She further claimed that Infosys management ridiculed her children for celebrating Thanksgiving, and called them 'ABCD' short for 'American-Born Confused Desi,' and 'IBCD' or 'Indian-Born Confused Desi.' Infosys management, she said, repeatedly discussed the quality of her work by explicitly commenting on their expectations for 'a woman your age.'

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