Caste discrimination case against two Indian American engineers dismissed
Case against Cisco to continue for “securing relief and ensuring company wide, corrective action”
The California Civil Rights Department has withdrawn its case alleging caste discrimination against two Indian American Cisco supervisors, Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, but would continue litigation against the Silicon Valley tech giant.
The department had accused Iyer and Kompella of discriminating and harassing a Dalit employee on the basis of caste. The Santa Clara Superior County Court dismissed the case last week at the department’s request, AP reported.
The Civil Rights Department sent a statement to The Associated Press on Monday saying the case against Cisco “remains ongoing.”
Read: Seattle’s historic ban on caste discrimination begins (March 28, 2023)
“We will continue to vigorously litigate the matter on behalf of the people of California,” it said, adding that it remains committed to “securing relief and ensuring company wide, corrective action.”
AP said a Cisco spokesperson declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.
A mediation conference between Cisco and the California Civil Rights Department has been set for May 2.
California’s lawsuit against Cisco, filed in July 2020, alleges that the Dalit engineer received less pay and fewer opportunities and that the defendants retaliated against him when he opposed “unlawful practices, contrary to the traditional order between the Dalit and higher castes.”
The engineer worked on a team at Cisco’s San Jose headquarters with Indians who all immigrated to the US as adults, and all of whom were of high caste, the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit against Cisco and its engineers fueled a movement against caste discrimination led by groups such as Oakland, California-based Equality Labs.
This lawsuit has also been named in groundbreaking actions including the first-in-the-nation ordinance passed by the Seattle City Council in February to include caste in its anti-discrimination laws.
Read: Seattle becomes first US city to ban caste discrimination (February 22, 2023)
Advocates and other groups say caste discrimination is pervasive in several South Asian communities and the diaspora, across religious lines.
However, other organizations such as the Hindu American Foundation and the Coalition of Hindus of North America oppose such policies arguing that they will specifically target Hindus and Indian Americans who are commonly associated with the caste system.
The Civil Rights Department voluntarily dismissing its case against the two engineers is a vindication for activists who have held the position that “the state has no right to attribute wrongdoing to Hindu and Indian Americans simply because of their religion or ethnicity,” Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, was quoted as saying.
“Two Indian Americans endured a nearly three year nightmare of unending investigations, a brutal online witch hunt and a presumption of guilt in the media,” she said.
Read: California considers ban on caste discrimination (March 23, 2023)
Thenmozhi Soundararajan, founder and executive director of Equality Labs, a Dalit-led advocacy group, told AP last week’s action “does not change anything” including the fact that the Cisco case “has given so many Dalits the courage to come forward with their stories about caste discrimination in education, the medical and tech industries.”
“This is not a loss, but progress,” she said. “The Dalit community owes (the engineer) and the Civil Rights Department gratitude for having the courage to bring such a historic case forward.”
