The persistence and efforts of 48-year old Thiruvamali Selvan finally paid off when Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) finally reinstated him after a seven-year long legal battle.
Selvan had been working with TCS as an assistant systems engineer, but had been laid off in 2015. He approached the court seeking continuity of service. Although Selvan managed to find odd jobs and freelance work in the last seven years, he did not give up his court battle with TCS, his employer. In fact, TCS had told the court that he was not a ‘workman’, but a ‘manager’ who had been asked to leave because of his poor performance.
The presiding labour officer at the Court reportedly observed that the details and actual nature of Selvam’s work were not disclosed on purpose by his employer in order to hide the ‘principal nature’ of his duty; that Selvam was, after all, a skilled worker only.
However, Selvan continued to pursue justice with backing from the Forum for IT Employees (FITE), which fights for employee rights. After seven long years and innumerable visits to the court, Selvan finally received justice and how!
The Chennai labour court has asked TCS to pay him his full salary for the period that he was laid off, along with all the benefits. He will also get his job back, to qualify for which Selvan had reportedly spent about one lakh in a course about eight years ago.
