Accenture US sued by Indian Muslim worker for discrimination

An Indian Muslim worker has sued the US consulting firm Accenture alleging discrimination at work. The man named Mohammad Ali said that he was paid a lower salary and demoted, and didn’t receive the annual bonus.

Ali further claimed that even though he regularly exceeded the given sales target he was paid less than his counterparts. He further said that he was given a target of USD 50 million whereas his colleagues had a much lower target of USD 30 million.

The complaint filed in the Houston federal court alleges that his white manager justified the elevated target saying that “wasn’t going to be like Bernie Sanders and give handouts.” Allegedly, the manager also said that he agrees with Trump’s views. These statements were made during the first half of 2016, reported Bloomberg.

Accenture in a statement said that the company was committed to inclusion and diversity and “that no one should be discriminated against because of their differences.” With regard to Ali’s complaint, company spokesperson Stacey Jones termed his claims “without merit”.

This is the second instance in two years when Accenture has been sued for discrimination. Last year, an Indian employee, claiming that he and hundreds of his colleagues who took part in the Global Careers Program run by the company faced discrimination. The complaint, filed by Elton Kent, said that Kent was paid less than his American counterparts and received fewer perks.

The case was settled by Accenture out of court for a sum of USD 500,000. The company neither admitted the charge nor denied it.

Accenture has been making efforts to address such issues. In June this year, the company launched a campaign ‘Inclusion Starts With I’.