By Geeta Sikand, Director of Communications Americans For Hindus
Cisco Systems and the Hindu/Indian American community, scored a significant victory in May 2024 when the court penalized the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) in its high-profile caste discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of a “Dalit” employee at Cisco.
The Civil Rights Department (CRD) has been sanctioned, as the court awarded $2000 in sanctions against CRD. In April 2023, CRD was forced to dismiss their fabricated case against Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella. Defendants threatened to file and litigate a Motion for Sanctions if the CRD did not voluntarily dismiss the case against them.
Plaintiff Chetan Narsude filed the complaint anonymously. Later, it was revealed that he was compensated in the millions and yet played the Dalit victim claiming ‘low pay’ while continuing to receive substantial compensation despite the accusations. Evidence submitted by Cisco states that Narsude had not applied for the promotion, and there were several complaints about his questionable work ethic within Cisco – yet the CRD hid all that evidence from the judge, activists, and the press, and focused solely on his caste discrimination allegations. This misrepresentation coupled with the CRD’s several constitutional and due process violations exacerbated concerns about the fairness of the case and the psychological impact on Indian-Americans of the current oppressor-oppressed framework used by the government and the academia.
In a request for comments, ex-defendant Sundar Iyer stated, “The sanctions motion is a very very small step in unearthing the over 100 fraudulent actions of the CRD. The CRD has unleashed xenophobia and toxic hate on Indian-Americans calling us dominant, hostile, oppressive, privileged, bigoted, tribal … including being inherently violent to the lowest castes. They have repeatedly accused Hindu and Indian Americans of physically assaulting thousands of Dalit Americans in America with no proof whatsoever. When will Indian-Americans wake up to this horrific reality?” said Iyer. I asked Iyer to clarify what he meant by ‘waking up Indian-Americans.’ “The fact that action needs to be taken against such a government agency, and stand up to the CRD, and demand an investigation,” responded Iyer. “The CRD’s behavior is an outrage, and an affront to truth and civil rights,” expanded Iyer.
I further asked, “So, are you giving a heads up to Indian-Americans that they too could become the next targets of CRD if they don’t wake up? “Huh? Indian-Americans have already been targeted multiple times by the CRD, in court records and from CRD’s statements for the past four years. The wake-up call is to tell them to ask for action to be taken,” Iyer explained. “I welcome whistleblowers within the CRD. Please … reach out to help make California an ethical workplace,” said Iyer.
Formerly known as Cal DFEH, the CRD has faced widespread criticism for unfairly targeting Indian-American managers Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella. CRD accused them of caste discrimination against a colleague referred to as John Doe. Of note, a whistleblower website had already exposed evidence of CRD’s prosecutorial misconduct and fabricated evidence and documented several of their xenophobic statements on Hindu and Indian Americans.
Furthermore, the anonymity clause for the alleged victim of Caste Discrimination was DENIED to #Millionaire John Doe a.k.a Chetan Narsude in December 2023. The CRD also had to remove their definition of caste as a strict Hindu social hierarchy and CRD was forced to file an amended complaint removing their anti-Hindu bias from their complaint, even though several troubling xenophobic and unconstitutional statements on Hindus and Indian-Americans remain. The CRD unconstitutionally made disparaging interpretations of Hinduism and Hindu religious practice and repeatedly used the definitions of Hinduism directly from the Equality Lab’s caste survey report. Importantly, the Equality Labs report and several unfounded press reports were thrown out of court as the judge refused to accept this as evidence of Caste Discrimination.
“The court’s rejection of the ‘evidence’ provided by the Equality Labs was a significant victory for the Hindu American community,” said Richa Gautam, founder of CasteFiles, a think-tank group. “This case also exemplifies the disconnect between the different branches of California’s government, with the judiciary rejecting the evidence from Equality Labs report while the CRD and legislative bodies placing undue faith in the unscientific and anecdotal caste report,” said Gautam.
Regarding CRD’s women prosecutors, Iyer said, “The CRD’s women prosecutors have intentionally hidden, refused to interview, and ignored complaints by several women engineers (amongst several others), in their attempt to feign caste discrimination. I am proud to say, I stood up for the women engineers in my team. Who protects women engineers in California? Clearly, not the CRD.”
The heightened rhetoric around caste discrimination led to increased hostility towards Hindu Americans, with reports of slurs and harassment in schools, universities, and workplaces. The introduction of the SB403 bill by Senator Aisha Wahab, citing the Equality Labs report, added to the controversy. Wahab’s statements linking caste to serious crimes in the USA were particularly inflammatory and were met with strong opposition from the Hindu-American community.
Gautam emphasized the broader implications of this verdict, stating “It exposed the overreach of the CRD in the caste case, tarnishing an entire community.” She highlighted the unscientific nature of the Equality Labs survey and how its flawed data had been used by academics and the media. Abhijit Bagal of CasteFiles stated, “The false caste narrative used against the Indian-American managers was misleading and the CRD’s case was riddled with inconsistencies.”
The case highlighted the challenging business environment in Silicon Valley, where companies like Riot Games and Tesla have faced substantial payouts over discrimination allegations. The CRD, dubbed a “Bounty Hunter” by the California Policy Center for its aggressive pursuit of payouts and refusal to arbitrate, has been criticized for its handling of cases, including those against Activision and Tesla. “The CRD’s castegate scandal is only the tip of the iceberg to what the CRD has done and covered up in several high profile cases, and to ordinary Californian supervisors. When will Governor Newsom take action? He has reams of records to act on,” said Iyer.
The Hindu Indian-American community was dismayed, disappointed, and frightened by the SB403 legislation introduced by Senator Wahab, based on the false data from Equality Labs. If this were any other ethnic minority, it would not have been tolerated. Of note, the anti-Hindu hate-monger organization Jamaat-e-Islami backed Equality Labs runs a disinformation war against Hindus as does the anti-Hindu venomous HfHR organization.
All the heightened rhetoric around caste discrimination led to increased hostility towards Hindu Americans, with reports of slurs, bullying, and harassment in schools, universities, and workplaces. This verdict and the surrounding events underscore the complexities and sensitivities involved in addressing caste discrimination allegations in the US, highlighting a compelling need for accurate and fair representation in such cases.
In totality, the May 2024 verdict, which imposed a meager $2000 sanction on the CRD, did not fully reflect the severity of the injustice but was nevertheless a victory for Silicon Valley and Indian-American civil rights. This verdict and the surrounding events underscore the complexities and sensitivities involved in addressing caste discrimination allegations in the US, highlighting the need for accurate and fair representation. Indian-Americans must never again be subjected to the kind of shame and embarrassment experienced by the falsely accused ex-defendants Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella by the oppressive CRD.
About Author
