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Bengaluru | Mumbai: A technology workers' association in the United States is collating evidence from Dalit workers about alleged discrimination they have faced from Indian colleagues, to spread awareness about such practices in the industry and to usher in changes to employment practices.
The Ambedkar King Study Circle (AKSC) in California initiated the move following the US State's lawsuit against networking technology company Cisco Systems for allegedly denying professional opportunities to an unnamed software engineer, based on the individual's caste.
The case between the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), an agency of the State of California, versus Cisco Systems Inc and individuals Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, is ongoing. ET has reviewed a copy of the case.
"Employees have no avenue to raise issues of caste-based discrimination at workplaces," said Karthikeyan Shanmugam, executive committee member, AKSC and Tech Workers Coalition (San Jose), Santa Clara. "We are collecting testimonies from more professionals. So far, nearly 60 people have come up and a majority of them are from technology companies."
The coalition intends to provide the evidence it collects to the DFEH and...