Accenture spokeswoman Stacey Jones denied Ali’s claims saying those “are without merit.”
An Indian American Muslim employee has filed a lawsuit against tech giant Accenture for allegedly discriminating against him on the basis of his religion.
Last week, an employee named Mohammed Ali filed a lawsuit complaining Accenture discriminated against him. The lawsuit came one year after Accenture settled a similar complaint filed by another Indian American.
According to a Bloomberg report, Ali alleged that he was paid a lower salary and demoted and that the company didn’t pay him a bonus. He said he was treated in a discriminatory manner by the company because of his religion.
Though Ali regularly exceeded his sales targets, with the exception of the fiscal year 2015, he was paid less than his colleagues in the same position. While he was given $50 million sales target, his counterparts were given a sales target of $30 million.
At the end of the fiscal year, Ali achieved $40.9 million in sales. But, the company “shorted” him on other deals, “so as to falsely deflate Ali’s sales production for the year,” alleges the complainant. He suffered severe economic harm after he was demoted shortly after the end of the fiscal year.
The lawsuit alleges that Ali’s manager, who is a white, knew he was a practicing Muslim and used discriminatory words against him. The manager said he “wasn’t going to be like Bernie Sanders and give handouts,” and he agreed “with all of Trump’s views,” the complaint said. According to the complaint, the manager made the statement during the first half of 2016 when Donald Trump was seeking a ban on Muslims immigrating to the US.
Accenture spokeswoman Stacey Jones denied Ali’s claims saying those “are without merit.” In a statement, the company said it is committed “to inclusion and diversity” and “that no one should be discriminated against because of their differences.”
Last year, Accenture agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by an Indian employee. The employee had alleged that he and hundreds of other workers like him were discriminated and paid less than American employees.