Text Size:
San Francisco: Apple Inc. lost an early round in a discrimination lawsuit brought in the U.S. by a female engineer from India who says her two managers — one from her country, the other from Pakistan — treated her as they would in their own countries: as a subservient.
The woman’s case in California state court is the latest to allege workplace bias in Silicon Valley that arises from the prevalent cultural prejudices of tech workers from South Asia. Cisco Systems Inc. is fighting a suit brought by California’s civil rights agency alleging bias against a member of India’s Dalit caste, formerly referred to as the “untouchables.”
Anita Nariani Schulze said she was forced to resign her job as a technical engineer at Apple in 2019 after tolerating years of discriminatory treatment at the hands of her senior and direct managers.
She said the two consistently excluded her from meetings while inviting her male counterparts, criticized her, micromanaged her work, and deprived her of bonuses, despite positive performance evaluations and significant team contributions.
Schulze claimed that part of the managers’ animus against her was due to her Hindu ancestry in Pakistan’s Sindh region, which she said is “known for its technical acumen” and encouragement of “women to rise above their historically subservient gender roles.”
In a tentative ruling on Wednesday, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sunil R. Kulkarni rejected Apple’s request to toss out the suit. While not ruling on the merits of the case, Kulkarni said Schulze had adequately supported her legal claims. Apple had argued her claims weren’t specific enough and were based on stereotypes.
But the judge rejected Schulze’s request to represent a class of female Apple employees who suffered job discrimination over the last four years. He agreed with Apple that she didn’t show a pattern of discrimination that could be applied to a broader group.
It wasn’t clear from the court’s docket whether the judge will hold a hearing Thursday before issuing a final ruling.
Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
In the Cisco case, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleged that two Indian employees at the San Jose-based company discriminated against a Dalit co-worker on the basis of caste.
Cisco has denied the claims, insisting it has “zero tolerance for discrimination.” It also said the lawsuit should be tossed out because caste isn’t a protected category under U.S. civil rights law.- Bloomberg
Also read: Google’s antitrust woes mount with third lawsuit in two months
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.
