On Monday (April 10), the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) voluntarily dismissed its infamous ‘caste discrimination’ case against two Indian-origin Cisco Systems Inc. engineers in the Superior Court.
The case was filed against Sundar Iyer and one Ramana Kompella in June 2020 for supposedly discriminating against a ‘self-identifying Dalit’. CRD, an agency of the California state government, had allegedly made false claims about Hinduism, besides depicting people of Indian origin as ‘xenophobic.’
This was despite the fact that the alleged victim was recruited by Iyer at a generous package with millions in stock grants. The Indian-origin engineer had also hired at least one more ‘self-identifying Dalit’ who held a leadership position at Cisco Sytems Inc.
The dismissal comes after @HinduAmerican filed a claim in US District Court that @CalDFEH’s case against @Cisco & the engineers infringed on the civil rights of Hindus living in California by unconstitutionally and falsely asserting that Hinduism mandates caste discrimination.
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) April 10, 2023
Citing court filings, Hindu American Foundation (HAF) noted that California Civil Rights Department was well aware of the diversity in the company and the particular Division where Sundar Iyer worked.
It also came to light that the ‘self-identifying Dalit’ was working in the American company for 8 long years at the time of filing the complaint. CRD could not find any evidence against the two Cisco Systems engineers that constituted harassment.
According to HAF, the agency of the California State government ignored the fact that Sundar Iyer publicly identified as ‘agnostic’ for over 20 years. CRD went on to falsely identify him as a ‘Hindu’ and relied upon malicious ‘reports’ published by Thenmozi Soundarajan-run-Equallity Labs.
It’s over folks. @CalDFEH lawsuit against two Indian American engineers @cisco who were presumed to discriminate based on caste as they were Indian & Hindu is DISMISSED.
— Suhag A. Shukla (@SuhagAShukla) April 10, 2023
The nightmare endured is beyond imaginable & a cautionary tale for what awaits in California over caste. https://t.co/fyMiIIQ0ng
While speaking about the matter, HAF Director Suhag A Shukla stated, “It’s over folks. @CalDFEH lawsuit against two Indian American engineers @cisco who were presumed to discriminate based on caste as they were Indian & Hindu is DISMISSED.”
“The nightmare endured is beyond imaginable & a cautionary tale for what awaits in California over caste,” she further added. During the course of the case, it came to light that the alleged victim knew Iyer for over 20 years since their time in IIT.
It must be mentioned that the ‘caste discrimination’ case against the two Cisco Systems engineers was used by ‘activists’ to pass resolutions to add ‘caste’ to non-discrimination policies at different places.
