Will Infosys come out clean in U.S. visa case?

BANGALORE, INDIA: With an out-of-court settlement through mediation slipping out of hands, Indian IT major Infosys Limited and its U.S.-based employee whistleblower have no other option, but to face a trial on August 20.

In the case filed last February concerning the company circumventing U.S. visa rules, then Infosys Technologies Ltd. was accused of sending its Indian employees to the U.S. on B-1 visas, issued to short-term travelers on business, instead of the H-1B visa, a non-immigrant visa meant for foreign employees on temporary work. The latter costs more, is harder to get and consumes more time.

The lawsuit, besides accusing the IT giant of visa fraud, also alleges that those brought in on a B-1 visa are not paid wages in line with U.S. standards. After this, Infosys was subpoenaed by a grand jury and federal authorities started probing the issue.

Meanwhile, Palmer stated that the company, whose major outsourcing clients are from the U.S., harassed him and blocked access to the official network as well as felt that his life was under so much of a threat that he had to get a gun licence.

"They did the worst thing they could do to someone who is used to working 80 hours a week," Palmer, a software project manager for Infosys since August 2008, had said in an interview this April. "They sit me at home and cut me off from everything. My life is floating in Infosys purgatory."

Also read: Wage hike: Infosys Consulting chief's letter to staff

On July 6, the US District Court Judge, Myron H. Thompson, instructed Infosys to settle out of court its dispute with Palmer, but the mediation held early this week failed.

"Despite Judge Coody's attempts to help both parties forge a settlement, the mediation hearing was not successful. Our sights are now set on presenting the facts of this case in open court on August 20," an Infosys spokesperson was quoted as saying.

During the upcoming trial, Infosys may have to testify against the Department of Homeland Security Special Agent, Ed Koranda, Department of State Special Agent, Tim Forte, and Sheriff John Williams of Alabama police.

"It has really brought a lot of negative attention on a visa that is really not used very much. It has painted a broad picture that there is large-scale visa fraud while it is always very small percentages. According to Infosys, less than two per cent of their employees were on this visa," Immigration Attorney Ashima Duggal has said.

All through the episode, the company has been strongly denying the charges leveled against it. But if the charges are proven at the trial, it would be a loss of face, for not only Infosys, but the whole league of Indian IT companies that have most of their projects outsourced from the U.S., besides Europe.

If the second largest IT exporter of India emerges out of the trial clean, it has more than one reason to feel vindicated.