The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating dozens of American workers’ allegations that IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) discriminated against them based on their race, age and national origin, a Bloomberg report stated. The former employees, it added, are largely professionals from non-South Asian ethnic backgrounds over the age of 40. They said that the IT giant targeted them for layoffs but spared Indian colleagues, some of whom were working on H-1B skilled worker visas. The complaint filings started against TCS in 2023.
A TCS spokesman said, as cited by the Bloomberg report, “Allegations that TCS engages in unlawful discrimination are meritless and misleading. TCS has a strong track record of being an equal opportunity employer in the US, embracing the highest levels of integrity and values in our operations.”
Citing federal law, an EEOC spokesperson said that the agency cannot comment on investigations. Complaints, or charges, made to the EEOC are confidential under federal law.
Bloomberg News reviewed more than two dozen of the complaints even as they have not been made public. The news platform reviewed emails and interviews with people familiar with the investigation which clarified that the complaints began during President Joe Biden’s administration and have continued under President Donald Trump.
Now in the UK too, three former TCS workers, per a report by The Guardian, have made similar claims to an employment tribunal, saying the company in 2023 discriminated against them based on their age and nationality as part of a redundancy program. TCS has denied the allegations.
The Bloomberg report further maintained that in an April 2024 letter that has not been previously reported, US Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote to the EEOC’s commissioners and its then-chair, Charlotte Burrows. He asked the agency to consider opening an investigation into TCS.
The EEOC is tasked with enforcing laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace. In 2020, the agency investigated another such case against Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, and found that the company discriminated against non-Indian workers in its US operation. In October, a jury in a federal class-action lawsuit found that Cognizant intentionally discriminated against more than 2,000 non-Indian employees between 2013 and 2022. Cognizant, however, had said it provides equal employment opportunities for all employees and does not tolerate discrimination.
