Fired TCS employee gets back his job after 7-year battle
PremiumThirumalai Selvan had worked for TCS for eight years before he became a victim of the mass layoffs in 2015.
Sacked in 2015, did freelance work as software consultant and a real estate broker, fought a court case and now 48 year old Thirumalai Selvan can sigh a heave of relief when a Chennai court has ruled that Tata Consultancy Services should pay him his salary and benefits of seven years in full.
That's right, the Chennai court ordered TCS to pay Selvan his complete salary for the past seven years and reinstate him into the company.
Read the story here.
Thirumalai Selvan had worked for TCS, an information technology company for eight years before he became a victim of the mass layoffs in 2015.
Selvan was asked to leave citing poor performance, wherein the information Technology company said his performance was not up to its expectations.
Selvan then approached the court seeking continuity of service.
Selvan served on a managerial position in the company. After the layoff, he was forced to look for freelance jobs. As a software consultant and a real estate broker, Selvan managed to earn ₹10,000th per month.
His family depended on savings and his wife’s salary.
TCS in their argument stated that Selvan was working in a managerial cadre and would not come under the category of ‘workman’.
However, C Kumarappan, Principal Labour Court’s presiding officer said, “The reason for not mentioning the petitioner’s other duties is nothing but a subterfuge, to camouflage his principal nature of duty". The court observed that Selvan’s primary role was that of a skilled worker.
Adding to Selvan’s financial troubles were legal hassles. “I would have travelled to the court more than 150 times in the last seven years," he told DT Next.
After spending seven years, the Chennai court ruled in his favour. It refuted TCS’ argument that Selvan belonged to the managerial cadre and was not a workman -- someone with a specified skill.
The Forum for IT Employees (FITE), that helped Selvan in his court case, celebrated the judgement.
“Justice anywhere is hope everywhere and a reminder to all who are forcing employees to resign," the group was quoted as saying by the Federal website. “Great work done by Team FITE Chennai and salute to the TCS employee who fought for justice."
A mechanical engineer by graduation, Selvan worked in his core sector for four years before switching to the software lane in 2001. He became a part of TCS as an assistant systems engineer in 2006.
Meanwhile, share of the top Indian IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have fallen sharply amid the current market volatility and the IT stocks are trading near their respective 52-week low levels. TCS shares are down about 18% in 2022 so far whereas that of Infosys have fallen more than 25% during the same period.