Kotchen & Low LLP

Our lawsuit against Meta for citizenship discrimination against U.S. citizens and in favor of foreign visa workers is moving forward. The court yesterday denied a motion to dismiss, finding that plaintiffs adequately alleged a pattern-or-practice discrimination claim under Section 1981.

Bloomberg published an in-depth article today profiling Kotchen & Low’s recent trial victory in which a jury unanimously concluded that Cognizant Technology Solutions intentionally discriminated against a class of non-Indians and non-South Asians placed in non-productive status (“the bench”) and fired.?The jury also found that Cognizant should have to pay punitive damages. ? The class consists of 2,347 individuals employed by Cognizant between September 18, 2013 and October 27, 2022, and the article quotes Kotchen & Low’s statement that we anticipate seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for these class members in the next phase of the case.? ? As a reminder to class members, they should contact Kotchen & Low with any additional questions.?Otherwise, Kotchen & Low will be in touch regarding the damages phase of the case.

Dan Kotchen was recently interviewed about our discrimination lawsuit against TSMC. Plaintiffs allege that TSMC's employment policies and practices discriminate in favor of Taiwanese based on national origin, citizenship, and race.

After a two-week trial, Kotchen & Low LLP obtained a unanimous jury verdict for its clients finding that Defendant Cognizant Technology Solutions engaged in a pattern or practice of race and national origin discrimination against a class of over 2,300 non-Indian and non-South Asian employees terminated from the bench. At trial, Plaintiffs presented extensive evidence of discrimination, including: expert statistical evidence; an EEOC final determination letter; evidence of discriminatory policies and practices; and anecdotal evidence of a cultural preference. The class consists of non-South Asian and non-Indian employees who were terminated from the bench while employed by Cognizant in certain mid-level positions (job bands 33-65, except 53) between September 18, 2013 and October 27, 2022. The claims are being pursued under the bifurcated?Teamsters?framework, under which the jury was asked to decide at the Phase I trial whether Cognizant had engaged in a pattern-or-practice of intentional discrimination, and the availability of punitive damages.?Phase II will address individual claims and defenses.?A disparate impact claim will be decided by the Court. Class members can contact the firm at [email protected].

The Ninth Circuit issued an opinion today in ?????????????? ??. ???????? ??????????????????, ??????., No. 22-16870 (9th Cir.) holding that 42 U.S.C. § 1981 extends to claims of citizenship discrimination against U.S. citizens, reversing the district court. Kotchen & Low LLP’s client, Purushothaman Rajaram, sued Meta (Facebook) for citizenship discrimination, alleging that Meta prefers to hire foreign visa workers rather than U.S. citizens for positions in the U.S. While the Supreme Court has recognized that Section 1981 applies to citizenship discrimination claims brought by non-U.S. citizens, courts are divided on whether Section 1981 applies to citizenship discrimination claims brought by U.S. citizens. Section 1981 provides, in relevant part, that “[a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of the United States ????????? ??????? ????? ???????? ????????? . . . to make and enforce contracts . . . ???? ???? ?????????????? ???? ????????? ????????????????.” 42 U.S.C. § 1981(a). The Ninth Circuit panel ruled 2 to 1 in favor of Mr. Rajaram. In an opinion authored by Judge Eric Miller, the Court reasoned: ? An employer that discriminates against United States citizens gives one class of people—noncitizens, or perhaps some subset of noncitizens—a greater right to make contracts than “white citizens.” If some noncitizens have a greater right to make contracts than “white citizens,” then it is not true that “[a]ll persons” have the “same right” to make contracts as “white citizens.” That is precisely what the literal text of the statute prohibits. Judge Lawrence VanDyke dissented, reasoning that the statute guarantees “[a]ll persons” only the rights “enjoyed by white citizens,” and that Mr. Rajaram does not allege that he has not been treated as well as a citizen, only that he has not been treated as well as a noncitizen. Even the dissent recognized, however, that U.S. citizens ??????????? be protected from citizenship discrimination: "I personally like the majority’s conclusion better than mine. It’s only natural to think that this sort of discrimination protection should be reciprocal—if noncitizens can’t be discriminated against in favor of citizens, then surely citizens shouldn’t be disadvantaged in favor of noncitizens." The district court’s granting of a motion to dismiss was reversed, and the case will return to the trial court for further proceedings. The case is still in the preliminary stages and the parties have yet to begin discovery.

Kotchen & Low LLP represents dozens of individuals who were recently fired by Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd. (“TCS”), and this article covers their allegations that TCS discriminates on the basis of race, national origin, and age, and that the company perpetuates its discriminatory scheme by favoring Indian employees (including those on visas) in staffing and termination/retention decisions.