US court rejects Infosys' motion to dismiss ‘culture of bias’ complaint by former executive

A US court has rejected a motion by Infosys to dismiss claims by a former executive, who in a complaint last year had accused the Bengaluru-based IT services provider and some of its senior staff members of discriminatory bias in hiring based on age, gender and caregiver status.

Jill Prejean, a specialist at recruiting executives at vice president and partner levels, alleged she was directed - as vice president of talent acquisition at Infosys - to avoid hiring candidates of Indian origin, women with children at home and candidates over 50 years of age.

While rejecting the grounds for dismissal of the suit by Infosys and others, the judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York asked the defendants to file their answer within 21 days from the date of the order, which came on September 30, according to court documents accessed by ET.


Infosys did not respond to ET’s queries.

Infosys and its executives had requested for the dismissal on the grounds that the former executive did not highlight specific comments as proof and there was a lack of jurisdiction, among other reasons.

These biases state by Prejean violated the New York City Human Rights Laws and resulted in the complainant losing her job for resisting such practices, she had said in her complaint in September 2021.

According to Prejean’s complaint, she “tried to change this culture within the first two months of her employment” but was met with “resistance from Infosys partners - Jerry Kurtz and Dan Albright - who became hostile in the face of her objections and tried to circumvent her authority to evade compliance with the law”.

The company had hired Prejean in 2018 at the age of 59 to find workers for its $1 billion-a-year consulting division, she had said.

Prejean was consistently informed by at least a dozen Infosys partners or executives they preferred not to hire additional consultants of Indian national origin, wanted women without children at home, and candidates not approaching 50.

She further stated in the filing that when a new supervisor, Mark Livingston, the chief executive officer of the consulting division, was hired, he raised similar demands.

After she resisted these, Prejean was told she could lose her job and have the requirements outsourced. She also faced consistent condescending behaviour, intimidation and harassment from the executives due to her gender, she alleged.

Shortly after filing a complaint with human resources against Livingston, Prejean was sacked - a move, according to her, not justified by her performance or by any business necessity.

Prejean’s complaint states her unwillingness to break the law and complain against Livingston’s discriminatory behaviour led to her termination.

She has claimed significant economic loss, emotional distress, humiliation, insomnia, anxiety and depression due to these alleged unlawful acts by the company and its executives.