TCS calls it “meritless” when it accuses Indians holding H-1B visas of replacing US workers who are fired

New York: A number of American IT professionals have filed grave complaints against Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), alleging that the corporation fired them without warning and replaced them with Indian employees who were in the country on H-1B visas. The Wall Street Journal reported on the claims, which raise the possibility that TCS participated in unlawful age and racial discrimination.

At least 22 employees have complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since late December, alleging that TCS engages in discriminatory practices. The impacted workers, who are mostly white, Asian American, and Hispanic American and are between the ages of 40 and 60, allege that TCS wrongfully terminated their employment agreements and gave the lower-paying Indian immigrants temporary work permits in place of them.

According to the WSJ article, “American professionals claim TCS broke the law by targeting them based on protected characteristics of age and race, even though companies frequently conduct layoffs that affect workers with more seniority.”

They claim that TCS gave Indian employees working in the US who already had an H-1B visa preferential treatment.

Note: TCS, a well-known participant in the IT sector, provides services to several large American companies.

US firms are able to hire foreign workers in specialist jobs that require technological skills thanks to the H-1B visa programme. H-1B visa holders typically work for three to six years; however, they may be able to extend that time if they apply for a green card and become permanent citizens.

TCS claims the accusation is baseless and deceptive.
A TCS representative said, “Allegations that TCS engages in unlawful discrimination are meritless and misleading,” in answer to questions about claims of prejudice against American professionals. In the US, TCS has a proven track record of being an equal opportunity employer and upholding the highest standards of morality and ethics in all aspects of business operations.

The Journal claims that the accusations bring up issues about Indian IT businesses’ use of H-1B visas once again.

According to the paper, a number of well-known US IT businesses, like Google, Microsoft, and Meta, which have different business models from outsourcing companies, use H-1B visas to acquire high-paying workers. In this sense, these businesses have received relatively less criticism.