Caste discrimination case against two Indian-origin engineers dismissed by California Civil Rights Department

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) has dismissed a caste discrimination case against two Indian-origin Cisco engineers.

A mediation conference between Cisco and the CRD is still set for May 2.

"Two Indian-Americans endured a nearly three-year nightmare of unending investigations, a brutal online witch hunt, and a presumption of guilt in the media after the CRD sullied their reputation alleging that they engaged in discrimination based on caste," said Suhag Shukla, executive director of Hindu American Foundation (HAF).

"We are thrilled that Iyer and Kompella have been vindicated along with our position that the state has no right to attribute wrongdoing to Hindu and Indian Americans simply because of their religion or ethnicity," Shukla said.

The HAF filed a claim in US District Court asserting that CRD's case against Cisco and the engineers infringed on the civil rights of Hindus living in California by "unconstitutionally and falsely" asserting that Hinduism mandates caste discrimination. HAF's filing took no position on the facts of the case.

According to court filings, Iyer, the CEO of the division, was accused of harassment on the basis of caste despite evidence that he actively recruited "John Doe," who self-identifies as Dalit and on whose behalf CRD filed suit, and offered Doe a generous starting package with stock grants valued in the millions.

In a statement, HAF said these same court records showed that Iyer also hired at least one other self-identified Dalit who held one of the only three leadership positions in the division. This individual was also offered the other two leadership positions, including the one John Doe claimed discrimination over, prior to Doe filing his discrimination complaint, HAF said.

"This trial presents a cautionary tale of the legal morass that awaits Indians, Hindus and all South Asians, if the state of California adopts a policy that applies to only South Asians and institutionalized false and negative claims that stigmatize our community” said Samir Kalra, HAF’s California based managing director.

"If you want to know why we're opposed to ethnically profiling South Asians with the creation of caste as a stand-alone category, this case launched by the CRD is a brutal illustration of a fate that can befall any South Asian working in the state,” he said.

Coalition of Hindus of North America welcomed the dismissal of the case.