World News | Caste discrimination case against 2 Indian engineers dismissed in US

WASHINGTON, April 11 (PTI) — The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) has dismissed a caste discrimination case against two Cisco engineers of Indian origin.

A mediation meeting between Cisco and CRD is still scheduled for May 2.

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“Two Indian-Americans endured a nearly three-year nightmare of endless investigations, brutal online witch hunts, and media presumption of guilt after CRD tarnished their reputations and accused them of engaging in caste-based discrimination,” Suhag Shukla said. , Executive Director of the American Hindu Foundation (HAF).

“We are pleased that Iyer and Kompella were vindicated and our position is that the state has no right to attribute wrongdoing to Hindus and Indian Americans solely because of their religion or race,” Shukla said.

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HAF filed a claim in U.S. District Court, alleging that CRD’s lawsuit against Cisco and the engineers violated the civil rights of Hindus living in California by “unconstitutionally and falsely” asserting that Hinduism enforces caste discrimination. HAF’s document takes no position on the facts of the case.

According to court documents, the department’s chief executive, Iyer, was accused of harassment based on caste despite evidence that he actively recruited “John Doe,” a self-identified Dalit, for whom the CRD sued and provided Doe with a A generous start-up plan with stock grants worth millions.

Those same court records show that Iyer also employed at least one individual who identified himself as a Dalit in one of only three leadership positions in the department, the HAF said in a statement. Before Doe filed the discrimination complaint, the individual was awarded two other leadership positions, including the one that John Doe alleges was discriminated against, HAF said.

Samir Kalra said, “If California adopts policies that only apply to South Asians and institutionalize false and negative claims that stigmatize our community, then this trial will await Indians, Hindus and all South Asians. Legal quagmire, this is a cautionary tale,” said HAF’s California managing director.

“If you’re wondering why we object to the racial profiling of South Asians by making caste a separate category, this case initiated by the CRD is a brutal example of what can happen to any South Asian working in South Asia .state,” he said.

The Hindu Union of North America welcomed the dismissal of the case.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)