Infosys calls fresh visa allegations unfounded

Infosys Technologies, embroiled in allegations of visa misuse in the US, has said that former employee Satya Dev Tripuraneni’s charge of retaliation by the company when he reported visa frauds by officials are “unfounded”.

In an emailed statement to Deccan Herald on Friday, the company said, “Infosys has completed its comprehensive investigation into Tripuraneni’s allegations of retaliation. We can unequivocally state that there is absolutely no evidence of any sort of retaliation against or directed at Tripuraneni.”

Tripuraneni, who worked for Infosys in the US for five years, recently filed a lawsuit in the federal court for the Northern District of California alleging that the company had retaliated and even demoted him after he reported certain discrepancies in allotment of B1 visas, which are allotted for short-duration visits of six months. 

Last year, Infosys employee Jack Palmer had alleged that the company misused B1 visas, which are short-term visas not to be used for sending employees on onsite work at client locations.

The company said on Thursday, “Shortly after Tripuraneni filed his complaint with the Infosys whistleblower team, as per our policy, the company launched a comprehensive investigation of his allegations. That investigation is continuing.”

During the hearing on the case filed by Palmer, both sides were asked to go in for mediation which, however, failed. The case is now scheduled for hearing on August 20.

In April this year, Infosys amended its whistleblower policy to check retaliation against employees opting for such a route when raising grievances against various company policies.

 “No one may take (any) adverse action against any employee for complaining about, reporting, or participating or assisting in the investigation of, a reasonably suspected violation of any law, this Policy, or the Company’s Code of Conduct and Ethics,” the amendment made by the company said.

It added that Infosys takes reports of such retaliation seriously and incidents of retaliation against any employee reporting a violation or participating in the investigation of a reasonably suspected violation would result in appropriate disciplinary action against anyone responsible, including dismissal from service.