Infosys Visa Fraud Case: Trial Postponed To Sept 17
The trial in the whistleblower case involving Infosys and one of its employees in the U.S. has been postponed from August 20 to September 17.
In an order issued Wednesday, U.S. district court judge Myron Thompson postponed the case to September 17, saying he needed more time to resolve the pending summary-judgment motion after the court-directed mediation between the two parties failed, Business standard reported.
Jack Jay Palmer, an Infosys employee in Montgomery, Alabama, has accused Infosys of harassment and retaliation after his claim about the misuse of the U.S. visa programs by the Indian IT company.
Infosys has denied the allegations of visa fraud and maintained that no retaliation or harassment has taken place towards Palmer. The summary-judgment motion was filed by the Bangalore-based company in April last, saying that there was no need to go for a trial as facts were clear that there was no harassment.
"While Infosys is eager to air the facts surrounding this case in court, we respect and appreciate Judge Thompson's thorough review of our motion for summary judgment. Infosys filed the motion because we think the facts of this case are very clear and there is no need for a trial," Infosys said in a statement issued Thursday.
The U.S. federal judge hearing Palmer's visa fraud allegation case had ordered both the parties to settle their disputes through mediation. According to sources, the mediation failed as Infosys denied any wrongdoing and Palmer insisted on the company admitting its wrongdoing.
"Our position now remains as it has from the beginning: We can state unequivocally that there is absolutely no evidence of any sort of retaliation against or directed at Jay Palmer," an Infosys spokesperson was quoted as saying by PTI.
Palmer filed a lawsuit against the Indian IT major several months ago, claiming that the company had been misusing the USB1 business visas. The B1 visas are issued for short-term business visits which will help the employees of a company participate in consultations or attend workshops or business meetings in the U.S. It is not an onsite work permit.
Companies can bring in foreign employees to the U.S. for full-time work only on H1B1 visas. Palmer alleged that when the U.S. State Department had limited the number of H1B1 visas issued to the companies, Infosys started bringing in its Indian employees for full-time onsite work, using the B1 visa.
Meanwhile, Palmer accused that Infosys paid less to the workers from India in the U.S. compared to the salary of American workers for doing the same work.
After Palmer, another U.S. employee had filed a similar lawsuit against Infosys in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California August 2. Satya Dev Tripuraneni, a former Infosys employee, has claimed that he had faced harassment by the management for his role in bringing to light the IT company's misuse of the U.S. visas.
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