Caste in Cisco: Understanding Caste in America

India’s caste system is a socio-political basis for discrimination and has followed the movement of the diaspora. In the United States, there have been multiple cases of Dalits (members of the lowest caste) facing prejudice in the workplace.[1] More specifically, Dalits are characterized as the “untouchables” of society, making their maltreatment especially long-lasting and brutal. Though caste discrimination is outlawed in India, it persists nonetheless and marginalizes people of lower caste. In the past year, on June 30, 2020, the state of California brought this issue to court and sued Cisco Systems, claiming that an Indian Dalit engineer was discriminated against at Cisco’s Silicon Valley headquarters on the basis of caste.[2] Two Cisco supervisors, Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, both members of a higher caste, are named in this case for employment discrimination and harassment, including lower pay, isolating the employee from his coworkers and belittling the employee in front of others.[3]

This is the first time in United States history in which caste is at the center of a discrimination case.[4] This case is a manifestation of the hierarchy of power created by the caste system and its present-day implications. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed the case at the District Court of the Northern District of California. The state argues that Cisco’s treatment of the Dalit employee violated California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming that laws against discrimination are in fact relevant to caste.[5] The California agency then voluntarily dismissed the case with the intention to refile the case in Santa Clara County state court. In response to the claims that Cisco denied the employee opportunities and created a hostile working environment, Cisco filed a demurrer and motion of strike, claiming that there are no legal grounds for the lawsuit. The hearing for the demurrer and motion of strike, set for March 9, 2021, was stayed by the court.[6],[7]

Cisco’s attempts to protect Iyer and Kompella demonstrate the disparities within the level of protection that their employees receive. The Dalit employee was not provided with much legal backing by Cisco, primarily because this controversy influences Cisco’s reputation; its inclusivity and workplace atmosphere are now under extreme scrutiny. If Cisco prevails, this case will raise the question of whether the ends justify the means and whether the end is truly the end. Legally, Cisco would be protecting Iyer and Kompella, but this does not end all scrutiny, nor will it mitigate the increased awareness of caste discrimination.

The Ambedkar International Center, Inc. responded by filing an amicus curiae brief, part of which states the following:

“The intent of the Fourteenth Amendment was to abolish caste legislation, and the intent of civil rights laws such as the Fair Employment and Housing Act was to abolish casteism of all kinds in the private sector. By banning employment discrimination on the basis of ancestry, race, and colour, the FEHA bars employers from discriminating against a worker because he is a Dalit. Cisco’s demurrer and motion to strike should accordingly be overruled.”[8]

The wording surrounding this case and its implications can not be undermined. The California lawsuit calls caste “‘a strict Hindu social and religious hierarchy.’”[9] This yielded the intervention of the Hindu American Foundation and garnered much attention from many Hindus nationwide and internationally. The Hindu American Foundation sought to intervene in the case with the claim that California is “attempting to chain Hinduism to a discriminatory practice abhorred and rejected by the vast majority of Hindu Americans. And in doing so, the State of California is violating the First Amendment and due process rights of all Hindu Americans.”[10] As time passes, more nuances of this case are uncovered, stemming from discrimination against workers on the basis of caste, expanding to the portrayal of Hinduism as a whole in American society.

This case raises questions of whether caste is truly “implied” in the Civil Rights Act when there really are no federal or state laws in the USA that include caste as a protected category.[11] It raises controversy over the prevalence of pointing to a higher, more privileged caste in an attempt to use caste as justification for discrimination. The caste system is not in accordance with the order of American society, and though it is not an “American” issue per se, the large Indian demographic in America continues to perpetuate injustice, which reinforces the need for this issue to be addressed. B.R. Ambedkar, a Dalit leader and one of the architects of India’s Constitution, stated, “If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian Castes would become a world problem.”[12] This case has the possibility to establish precedent on caste-based discrimination, and it could affect the treatment of Dalits among the Indian diaspora in America in addition to how many people weaponize caste.

[1] Tinku Ray, “The US Isn't Safe from the Trauma of Caste Bias,” The World from PRX, accessed March 11, 2021, https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-03-08/us-isn-t-safe-trauma-caste-bias.

[2] CBS San Francisco, “California Sues Cisco Over Alleged Caste Discrimination Against Dalit Indian Employee,” CBS San Francisco (CBS San Francisco, July 1, 2020), https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/07/01/california-sues-cisco-over-alleged-caste-discrimination-against-dalit-indian-employee/.

[3] Ibid.

[4]   Rtd, “Caste Away: How Indian Discrimination Patterns Have Seeped into the US,” RTD (RTD, February 21, 2021), https://rtd.rt.com/stories/caste-away-discrimination-in-american-companies/.

[5] “Caste Arrives In Silicon Valley,” NPR (NPR, October 14, 2020), https://www.npr.org/transcripts/923736245.

[6] “Ambedkar International Center Files Amicus Brief In The Cisco Caste Bias Lawsuit,” Moneycontrol (MoneyControl), accessed March 11, 2021, https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/ambedkar-international-center-files-amicus-brief-in-the-cisco-caste-bias-lawsuit-6562951.html.

[7] “Caste-Bias Lawsuit: US Court Stays Hearing For Cisco's Legal Challenge To The Complaint,” Moneycontrol (MoneyControl), accessed March 20, 2021, https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/caste-bias-lawsuit-us-court-stays-hearing-for-ciscos-legal-challenge-to-the-complaint-6624171.html.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “California's Legal Ground in Battling Caste Discrimination Takes Centre Stage in Historic Cisco Case,” The Wire, accessed March 12, 2021, https://thewire.in/caste/cisco-case-caste-discrimination-silicon-valley-ambedkar-organisations.

[10] Indica, “Cisco Caste Case: HAF Says Hindus Wronged,” Indica news, January 13, 2021, https://indicanews.com/2021/01/13/cisco-caste-case-haf-says-hindus-wronged/.

[11]  Rtd, “Caste Away: How Indian Discrimination Patterns Have Seeped into the US,” RTD (RTD, February 21, 2021), https://rtd.rt.com/stories/caste-away-discrimination-in-american-companies/.

[12]Ibid.