Early this year, Wipro, the Indian information technology multinational had taken its former chief financial officer to court for violating a non-compete clause when he moved on from the company to join Cognizant. Now, Cognizant has decided to pay Jatin Dalal $505,087 to settle the lawsuit with his former employer.
The board of directors at Cognizant Technology Solutions has given permission for this payment so that Dalal’s legal expenses are reimbursed and he is also able to settle the case with Wipro for good.
Dalal was asked by Wipro to pay up Rs. 25.15 crore plus 18 per cent interest per annum till the date of payment. Interestingly, Dalal was associated with Wipro for more than two decades and served as CFO since 2015!
As per his contract with Wipro, the employment clause said that Dalal was not allowed to join a rival firm for a year from the date of resignation. Jatin Dalal had put in his papers at Wipro in September of 2023, and his last day at the firm was 30 November 2023. He joined Cognizant the very next month, that is, December 2023, taking on the position of CFO there. He conveyed to Cognizant that he was not bound by any non-compete clause with Wipro, as per a filing by Cognizant with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Wipro naturally demanded damages saying that Dalal had violated non-compete and confidentiality agreements
Clearly, Cognizant has not played any illegal part in this issue.
