Infosys has won a significant victory after a US court threw out a harassment charge against the company filed by its employee.
But Infosys is not out of the woods yet because its visa practices are still being probed by federal authorities in Texas. Further, it is under the lens of the Department of Homeland Security, which has questioned the eligibility of its employees working in the US.
Jack Palmer, a project manager with Infosys in the US, had claimed he found company managers misusing short-term business visitor visas, called B-1 visas, to bring in employees from India to the US to work on long-term projects. Palmer later filed a case against the company, claiming he was harassed, given no work and also received veiled death threats after he blew the whistle.
Alabama District Court Judge, Myron H. Thompson, in his ruling on Monday, said the case did not meet the standard under Alabama law for an employee to claim that his employer mistreated him. All the six claims presented by Palmer were dismissed.
A visibly relieved Infosys CEO S. D. Shibulal told journalists during a conference call that the decision of the judge confirms “what we have been saying from the beginning: Mr Palmer’s claims of retaliation were completely unfounded. We are pleased to consider this matter officially closed.” But Palmer’s lawyer, Kenneth J. Mendelsohn, said: “It is important to understand that Judge Thompson did not condone Infosys’ conduct. He merely concluded that under current Alabama law, Palmer has no right to recover from Infosys.”
Shibulal said that Palmer’s services will be used “as and when projects come up.” He further said, “we will continue with our whistleblower policies and won’t retaliate against employees using it.”
The Infosys stock climbed 2.37 per cent to close at Rs 2,407 following the news of the judgment. An Angel Broking analyst Ankita Somani said the news is “a sentimental positive and I won’t read too much into it.”
Infosys is still to resolve a second lawsuit filed on August 2 by Satya Dev Tripuraneni in a California court. But Infosys claimed it has finished investigating the allegations made by Tripuraneni and concluded they were ‘unfounded’.