What is the caste system?
In the 3,000-year-old Hindu caste system, people are divided at birth into different hierarchical social groups. Caste has dictated almost every aspect of Hindu religious and social life, upper and lower have been put into separate segregated communities. At the top are Brahmins, next Kshatriyas, followed by Vaishyas, and Shudras. At the very bottom are the Dalits or the untouchables. The Dalits have historically not been afforded the same civil, cultural, and economic rights and privileges as the classes above it. Discrimination-based caste was outlawed in the mid 20th century, however, it stills plays a key role in Indian society. Today, over 260 million people worldwide are estimated to be affected by caste-based discrimination.
Statement
30 female Indian engineers who are members of the Dalit caste and work for several tech companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Cisco, have recently shared a statement claiming that caste bias is been replicated by members of upper castes in the form of favoring members of the same caste in hiring, referrals, and peer performance reviews. Additionally, they claim they were excluded from opportunities for promotion by their managers who were from an upper caste. “We also have had to weather demeaning insults to our background and that we have achieved our jobs solely due to affirmative action. We are role models for our community and we want to continue to work our jobs” they stated, “But it is unfair for us to continue in hostile workplaces, without protections from caste discrimination.”
Lawsuit
In a lawsuit filed in federal court by a Dalit engineer, identified as John Doe, alleges that he was paid less and denied opportunities since both of his managers knew he was Dalit. This would violate the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and ancestry. If John Doe were to win his lawsuit against Cisco, it would one of very few that illustrated caste discrimination in America’s private sector.
Aftermath
In the wake of the announcement, Equality Labs, a nonprofit organization for Dalit rights, claims it received over 260 complaints about caste bias. Included in these allegations were caste-based slurs and jokes, bullying, discriminatory hiring practices, the bias in peer reviews, and sexual harassment. Cisco and the other tech companies implicated in the 30 engineers statements have either denied all claims levied against them or declined to comment when reached out to.
Sources
留言