The lawsuit identifies the engineer as a Dalit, the lowest caste of India’s dominant Hindu religion and a community commonly known as “untouchables.” India’s caste system was officially abolished in 1950, but the 2,000-year social hierarchy imposed on people by birth still exists in many aspects of life. The caste system classifies Hindus at birth, defining their place in society, what jobs they can do and who they can marry.
The suit names as co-defendants two supervisors of the engineer’s team, Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, who according to the suit are among the highest castes in India and knew that the engineer was a Dalit.
Iyer and Kompella could not immediately be reached for comment. Cisco said it would “vigorously defend itself” against the allegations.
“Cisco is committed to an inclusive workplace for everyone,” company spokesman Robyn Blum said in a statement. “We have strong processes in place to report and investigate employee concerns raised in this case since 2016, and we have determined that we fully comply with all laws and our own policies.”
According to the lawsuit, the engineer allegedly “hoped to accept a hierarchy of castes within the workplace where [he] he maintained the lowest status within the team and, as a result, received less pay, fewer opportunities, and other lower terms and conditions of employment. “When the engineer opposed the treatment, they allegedly” retaliated against him “by reducing his role in the team, isolating him from his colleagues and giving him tasks that were” impossible to complete under the circumstances, “the lawsuit claimed.
The lawsuit also accused Cisco of not taking “corrective action,” even after multiple investigations.
.
