On October 4, 2024, a California federal jury found Cognizant Technology Solutions engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against a class of non-South Asian and non-Indian employees. Cognizant is a U.S.-based multinational IT consulting company and one of the country’s top users of the H-1B (specialty occupation) visa.
The lawsuit was initially filed in 2017 by three United States citizens who identify as “Caucasian.” The jury concluded that Cognizant engaged in a “pattern or practice” of discrimination, favoring South Asians and Indian nationals, particularly those with visas.
Specifically, the jury concluded, based on statistical evidence presented at trial, that Cognizant engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by terminating non-Indian and non-South Asian employees at a much higher rate than its other employees (8.4 times more likely). Cognizant’s internal “benching” process requires employees to wait on standby (on the “bench”) after completion of a task or project if there is not another project immediately available for them to work on. If the employee remains “benched” for five weeks, i.e., is not staffed on a new task or project within that timeframe, Cognizant terminates the employee.
The jury found that Cognizant favored Indian and South Asian employees by staffing these employees on new projects, leaving other employees “benched” and subject to termination. The plaintiffs alleged that Cognizant had particularly favored Indian and South Asian employees for whom it sponsored H-1B visas.