I want to fight the hell out of this: Murthy

BANGALORE: In a conference call from the US, former director and head of worldwide sales of Infosys Technologies Phaneesh Murthy said, "I want to fight the hell out of this case. I am outraged and appalled." He was referring to the latest sexual harassment suit filed against him and his former employer, Infosys by an ex-employee, Jennifer Griffith. Murthy is now the CEO of iGate Global Solutions formerly Mascot Systems.

"The allegations are complete bullshit and garbage. It is clearly motivated by money and if I don’t fight now, then I will become vulnerable to anybody who wants to take a potshot at me," stated Murthy. He also hoped the legal fee would be borne by an insurance cover filed during his tenure at Infosys.

This is the second time that both Infosys and Phaneesh Murthy have been pulled to court by women ex-employees over sexual harassment. The first case was filed by Reka Maximovitch last year and was settled out of the court for

$3 million. It is to be noted that the same law firm, which represented Maximovitch is standing in for Griffith. Denying any personal relationship with her, Murthy said, "All that she has is a greed for money, I didn’t like her and her performance was also below par."

On his changing work style after two sexual harassment suit, Murthy, added, "I am basically a very informal person at workplace. After this I have become more formal with a strata of employees."

The latest suit has been filed in a court at Almeda County, California on September 30^th 2003.

Meanwhile in a media release, Infosys stated, "The lawsuit has not yet been served on the Company and Infosys is still reviewing the complainant's allegations. Based on its present knowledge of the facts, the lawsuit will not, in the opinion of management, have a material effect on the results of operations or the financial position of the company."