Infosys Visa Fraud Case: Second Employee Files Case Against Company

Another employee of Infosys, India's leading IT player, has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging harassment for his role in bringing to light the visa and fraud issue.

In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Aug. 2, Satya Dev Tripuraneni, a U.S. citizen and former Infosys employee, has claimed that he has faced harassment from the company, reported NDTV.

Infosys refuted the allegations and said that the company was probing the matter. "Shortly after Mr. Tripuraneni filed his complaint with the Infosys whistleblower team, per our policy, the company launched a comprehensive investigation of his allegations. That investigation is continuing. As for comments on the legal matter, we are choosing to concentrate our attention and resources on the investigation. We feel this is the prudent and responsible course of action at this time," Infosys said in a press statement, NDTV reported.

Infosys is already facing lawsuits for alleged visa misuse and tax evasion after Jack Jay Palmer, an Infosys employee in Montgomery, Alabama, accused the company of harassment and retaliation following his claim of the misuse of the U.S. visa programs by the company.

Infosys has denied allegations of the visa fraud and maintained that Palmer was not subjected to any retaliation or harassment by the company.

Several months ago, Palmer had filed a lawsuit against the Indian IT major that the company had been misusing the U.S. B1 business visas.

The B1 visas are less expensive and easier to get as compared to the H1 visas. Unlike the H1 visas, the B1 Visas are not onsite work permits. The B1 visas are issued for short-term business visits to the employees of companies participating in consultations or attending training, workshops or business meetings in the U.S.

The companies can bring in foreign employees to the U.S. for full-time work only on the H1B1 visas. Palmer alleged that when the U.S. State Department had limited the number of the H1B1 visas issued to the companies, Infosys started bringing in its Indian employees for full-time onsite work, using only the B1 visa.