Facts

Steven Heldt brought a class action against Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. in relation to Tata's employment practices. Plaintiffs sought to certify a class of employees who were not hired by Tata, and a separate class of employees who were terminated by Tata. The court denied certification of the hiring class, but certified a class of over 1,000 former Tata employees who were terminated.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff alleged that defendant discriminated against American workers, giving the Indian information technology industry relief from charges of stealing American jobs. Plaintiff also alleged that Tata let go of 78 percent of its non-South Asian workers who were taken off job assignments between 2011 and 2014, while only 22 percent of South Asians were fired, even though they made up half of the company's U.S. workforce. Plaintiff raised causes of action for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and violations of Civil Rights Act of 1866.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant denied all allegations that it discriminated on the basis of race, national origin, or any protected status. Defendant alleged that it had legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for terminating the plaintiffs. At trial, defendant's witnesses testified that Tata tried to place all of its employees in job positions based on skills and location preferences. While Tata is an Indian-based company and uses some of its existing employees from India on projects in the U.S., defendant introduced evidence that its locally-hired, U.S. workforce had increased by over 400 percent between 2011 and 2017, and that by 2018, its U.S. workforce was over 40 percent locally hired. Defendant also showed that the named plaintiffs turned down job positions based on location, and that they did not have the required skills for other positions.

Result

The jury entered a verdict in favor of defendant finding that defendant did not discriminate against American workers.