Former employee sues Wipro in US on wage issues

BENGALURU: Wipro said it will defend all pending lawsuits against it after an Indian employee filed a class action complaint against it in a US court, alleging violation of local labour laws. Media reports indicated Wipro employee Suri Payala had recently filed a complaint in Superior Court of the State of California, alleging that Wipro failed to compensate him for over-time and make other wage settlements.

According to the complaint, Payala worked with Wipro for the first six months of 2014 as a computer technician and was working on a project that USbased DirecTV outsourced to India’s third-largest software exporter.

Payala could not be reached for comment. Wipro in an email said while it would not comment on pending litigations, it would “vigorously defend these allegations.” A Wipro spokesperson said, “Wipro abides by the laws of every jurisdiction where we do business.”

This is not the first time that an Indian IT firm has faced a lawsuit or class action complaint from former or current employees.