A federal judge in New York has allowed the complaint brought by a former recruiter against Infosys, who claims that the computer giant discriminated against indians "to her dismay." Late last month, efforts by Infosys and its executives to have the case dismissed were denied by Judge J. Paul Oetken in New York, who was hearing the case. In court documents obtained by IANS, the former recruiter Jill Prejean said that while working at Infosys, she "often heard from at least a dozen partners, to her dismay, that they preferred not to hire further consultants of indian national background."
She has also claimed that when she was fired from her New York-based employment, she herself experienced discrimination due to her gender and age. Prejean had demonstrated that the lawsuit alleging "unequal treatment based on her age and gender" by Infosys' three top executives had sufficient basis, according to Oetken. Prejean was employed by Infosys in 2018 to assist with recruiting "high-level executives and/or partners," but she was "dismissed" the following year and allegedly "replaced by a younger, less qualified person," according to the lawsuit. Although she was employed by Infosys, the complaint claimed that she had actually been hired by and paid by a business called IT Associates Inc.
She only claimed in her initial 2020 complaint that she had been told to keep hiring instructions out of the hands of women who had children at home and persons who were close to or older than 50. However, it was altered the previous year to include those of "Indian national origin" as the accused targets of discrimination. Prejean, to her dismay, "regularly heard from at least a dozen partners that they preferred not to hire more consultants of indian national origin, that they sought ladies without children at home, and applicants not reaching 50." The accusation claimed that throughout their discussions, she "advised the partners that they were advancing illegal criteria and that she would not act on them."
Her complaint stated that "these preferences were open and well known and appeared to constitute the business culture." Vice Presidents Dan Albright and Jerry Kurtz, as well as Mark Livingston, the consulting division's CEO, were named as defendants in the new case, although IT Associates appeared to have been dropped. According to it, "Defendants Kurtz and Albright were among the partners who explicitly presented illegal criteria to" her. Livingston "made good on his threats of vengeance," according to the complaint, for highlighting different issues.