Promila Awasthi, a Silicon Valley computer consultant, has filed a lawsuit in a California court against her former employer -- the Fremont arm of Infosys Technologies Ltd.
In the lawsuit filed on Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, Awasthi, an India-born American citizen, alleged her former bosses mocked her for observing American holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and refused to pay her overtime according to California law.
In this potentially explosive lawsuit against the Indian tech giant, Awasthi 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 United States but elsewhere in the world, too.
Awasthi, who worked at Infosys from February to November 2008, in her lawsuit said, 'intolerable' working conditions forced her to quit.
Infosys management, said Awasthi, told her not to celebrate Thanksgiving because she is 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' short for '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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