Happiest Minds Accused Of Discrimination Against Non-Indians, Company Denies Charges

IT firm Happiest Minds has been accused by a former employee of discrimination against non-Indians and giving preference to people from South Asia in hiring and jobs — an allegation that has been denied by the Indian company.

In a class action suit filed by her, American national Tami Sulzberg alleged that at least 90 percent of the US workforce of Happiest Minds, whose headquarters is in Bengaluru, are South Asians, is primarily from India.

When contacted, Happiest Minds in a statement said it is a law-abiding corporate entity and denied any allegations of wrong doing.

“Happiest Minds…is an equal opportunity employer and is compliant with all US federal and state laws. The company is a law-abiding corporate entity and denies any allegations of wrong doing as claimed in the US lawsuit filed by a former employee,” it said.

Founded by Ashok Soota along with others in 2011, Happiest Minds has operations in the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and Middle East.

“In the eventuality of this case going to trial, Happiest Minds is convinced that it will establish the fairness and veracity of its people practices to the satisfaction of the concerned authorities,” the company said.

Happiest Minds further stated that it is working with its attorneys and would not like to offer further comments.

According to Sulzberg, Happiest Minds prefers to hire and employs South Asians and Indians, and it effectuates this preference in three ways.

First, she said, the company engages in a practice of securing H-1B visas (and other visas) for South Asian and Indian workers located overseas, who will then be used to staff US positions.

The lawsuit alleged that non-South Asian and non-Indian individuals are often displaced from their current positions in favour of South Asian and Indian visa-ready individuals.

For instance, Sulzberg was replaced in her Director of Business Development position (a sales role) by an L-1 visa holder, Chandan Das, who travelled from India to the US for work, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Happiest Minds gives preference to South Asian and Indian applicants located in the US over non-South Asian and non-Indian applicants.

As a result, Happiest Minds hires a disproportionately high percentage of South Asians and Indians within the United States that far exceeds the proportion of those individuals in the relevant labour market.

For example, from January 2014 to October 2018, Happiest Minds hired 52 individuals in the US, 29 (56 percent) of whom are South Asian and 26 (50 percent) of whom are visa-dependent.

The lawsuit alleges that because of its discriminatory preference for South Asians and Indians, Happiest Minds terminates non-South Asians and non-Indians at disproportionately high rates, compared to South Asians and Indians.

Non-South Asians and non-Indians assigned to projects and those working in sales roles are terminated at substantially higher rates than South Asian and Indians, it alleged.

The lawsuit seeks an order from the court, asking Happiest Minds to adopt a non-discriminatory method for hiring, firing and other employment-related decisions. It also seeks an unspecified damages from the IT company.―Outlook India