Jack Palmer’s motive for filing a fresh case against Infosys this May, after he lost the case he filed against the company in 2012 is to coax Infosys into arriving at a settlement, according to legal experts.
Palmer, a former employee of Infosys, had filed a case against the company alleging harassment and breach of contract after he raised concerns that the company may have violated immigration laws.
Commenting on the fresh case filed by Palmer, Infosys in a statement said, “Palmer’s current Department of Labor complaint is a repetition of the issues that were tried and dismissed by a federal court in 2012. Palmer resigned in 2013 November and released the company from the claims he has alleged in the complaint. We believe this is without merit and we expect to prevail.”
Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya said, “Infosys can now file a petition for summary dismissal of the case.”
“If the petition for summary dismissal is granted, the case will be dismissed and closed. However, if it is rejected by the judge, Infosys will have to face a trial,” he said.
A lawyer heading the Employment & Immigration practice of a leading law firm, who did not wish to be named, told Business Line : “Jack Palmer is just trying to get Infosys into a corner with this fresh case, to see if he can get a settlement out of them. He may be filing for causes he has not filed in his earlier case against Infosys. For instance, he might say that Infosys had coerced him into terminating his services with the company or denied him work and promotions while he was still an employee with them. His sole attempt will be, to get the case into a jury system, where Infosys will have to face a trial.”
Infosys won the case against Palmer in August 2012 when a US federal judge in Alabama threw out the case saying that some of the claims brought by Palmer against Infosys were not covered by a State law.
Visa issue While Infosys denied committing visa fraud, it admitted to making mistakes on its I-9 worker verification forms which are required by the federal government for all employees and paid $34 million in a civil settlement with the US Government last October, making it the largest immigration penalty ever levied against a company.
Last year Palmer allegedly received millions of dollars for helping federal officials investigate other companies for similar immigration law violations.
Reports say that under the federal False Claims Act, Palmer is entitled to receive 15-25 per cent of the amount recovered by the Government in immigration fines.