Former employee of Happiest Minds, Tami Sulzberg, has filed a lawsuit accusing the IT company of giving preference to South Asians while hiring, and has also sought damages. She points out that a minimum of 90 per cent of the Company’s workforce in San Jose, US, consists of Indians. Her own position in the sales division was given to an Indian possessing an L-1 visa.
However, the Bangalore headquartered IT company has denied these allegations, and emphasised that it is a law-abiding equal-opportunity employer that has adhered to all federal and state laws of the US.
According to Sulzberg, the Company engages secure H-1B visas (and other visas) for South Asian and Indian workers located overseas, who are then brought in to fill vacancies in the US. She herself lost her position, as director-business development, to an Indian holding an L-1 visa, who was brought in from India by the Company.
Sulzberg alleges that the Company prefers South Asian and Indian applicants located in the US over other applicants, which means it is recruiting a significantly large number of South Asians and Indians while operating within the US— much more than their proportion in the relevant labour market.
The lawsuit has sought a court order demanding that Happiest Minds discard its discriminatory hiring strategy and adopt non-discriminatory employment practises, including that of recruiting and firing.
In an official press release by Happiest Minds on the 12th of September it is stated that, “Happiest Minds, the Mindful IT Company is an equal opportunity employer and is compliant with all US federal and state laws. The company is a law abiding corporate entity and denies any allegations of wrong doing as claimed in the lawsuit filed by the former employee. The company is working with its attorneys and would not like to offer a comment. In the eventuality of this case going to trial, Happiest Minds is convinced that it will establish the fairness and veracity of its people practices to the satisfaction of the concerned authorities.”
Happiest Minds’ mission statement is ‘Happiest People . Happiest Customers’. Happiest
Minds has a culture of caring and performance. And that is mirrored in the multiple
industry accolades received: Best Workplaces List 2019 of the Great Place to
Work®, IAOP 2019, 2018 Red Herring Top 100, to name a few.
