India’s second-largest IT major, Infosys’ former employee, Jill Prejean a specialist at recruiting hard-to-find executives has taken legal action over biases.
As per Jill Prejean, she was discriminated on the grounds of age and sex. She was hired by Infosys in October 2018 as a VP- Talent Acquisition.
As part of the hiring profile, Jill Prejean had to be part of the meetings to make a better understanding new hiring profile. She allegedly raised her concerns about discriminatory preferences. Further, she also felt that there were hiring based on discriminatory criteria by the in-house counsel.
“In these meetings, the partners allegedly expressed reluctance to hire additional consultants of Indian origin, women with children at home, and candidates over 50 years of age,” the Court’s order says.
A US judge has rejected Infosys’s motion to dismiss claims of Jill Prejean, who alleged that she was fired for raising concerns about discriminatory preferences in hiring practices.
In December 2018, Mark Livingston joined Infosys and was Jill Prejean’s supervisor. He was with Infosys for nearly four years and left the company in July of this year.
Jill Prejean has been allowed to proceed with the discrimination and retaliation claims against former Infosys SVP and head of consulting Mark Livingston, and former partners Dan Albright, and Jerry Kurtz.
The Court’s order said that after joining the firm, “Livingston allegedly met with Prejean in Infosys’s New York office and told her that he wished her to exclude women “with children at home” and candidates near or over 50 years old.”
Prejean is said to have told Livingston that these demands were illegal, and Livingston allegedly responded by becoming “disturbed and angry.” He also allegedly threatened to remove her from her position if she did not capitulate.
These concerns have been serious against Infosys. However, on the other end, the policies at Infosys have always been strong.