Racism in America !

NRI files racism suit after BPO backlash
By Chidanand Rajghatta/TNN

Washington: An Indian-American tech worker has filed a suit in a federal court in Texas against a US firm alleging daily incidents of racial harassment and discrimination because the company outsourced work to India.

The lawsuit by Neelima Tirumalasetti, a senior IT analyst in quality assurance, says that after her company, Caremark, announced in December 2003 it would outsource work to IBM India, she became the target of widespread anti-Indian harassment.

Her co-workers called her “brown-skinned bitch”, “dirty Indian” and other insults, accused her of coming to the US to take their jobs, mocked her accent in team meetings and excluded her from work projects.

Hoping for relief, the US citizen reported the harassment to her seniors and even Caremark’s ethics hotline. The reports made matters worse. Caremark removed her team leader responsibilities on a large project, isolated her from prime assignments, began auditing her work daily, denied her pay and blocked access to leave.

According to the lawsuit, Caremark told Neelima she made up the harassment and faked the physical symptoms of escalating workplace stress, which repeatedly landed her in hospital.

Astonishingly, Caremark reportedly conceded she was the victim of harassment but concluded that the harassment was “understandable given employees’ concerns about outsourcing”. Nevertheless, it barred her from working from home, a privilege enjoyed by other employees.

Neelima suffered a final emotional breakdown after Caremark reassigned her to report to a co-worker she identified as a chief harasser — a more junior employee — and this coworker stated she would “kill the bitch who complained”.

Caremark sent Neelima a termination letter after she reported her situation to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Caremark investors deserve to know how it conducts itself,” says Neelima. “This lawsuit is about assuring that all employees are treated equally regardless of their national origin, race or ethnic background.”