qesehmk
04-18-2021, 01:10 PM
Last year California took up a landmark case of caste based discrimination. The case is filed by two Cisco employees for caste based discrimination.
Technically caste is a not a protected category in US, and thus Cisco has more than a fighting chance of winning the case.
Here is a primer about it.
https://today.westlaw.com/Document/Ia28d9d10d25e11ea85dce8228c52478f/View/FullText.html?transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=(sc.Search)
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/12/922936053/california-workplace-discrimination-system-sheds-light-on-caste-system
On Apr 29th, Santa Clara County Commission for Human Rights has organized a discussion on Caste System. HAF (Hindu America Foundation) not so surprisingly is not happy with such discussion.
Here are some more links to educate yourself.
https://samvadaworld.com/world/haf-files-motion-to-intervene-in-californias-case-against-cisco-systems-for-being-unconstitutional-and-violating-religious-freedom-of-hindus/
https://dsnuk.org/2021/02/02/the-hindu-american-foundation-file-against-the-county-of-santa-clara-in-the-cisco-case/
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If you ask me - I would say the CISCO employees (ex now) may or may not have merit. We just don't know. But I have and presumably you too have seen, first hand, discrimination based on caste (as well as region), with Indian employers as well as suppliers. I find it quite disgusting that we carry our biases in this land of presumably free. I am a very liberal person. Just like I support all immigrants, I also support human rights for every one. If people are being wronged based on Caste or religion or anything else, then we ought to stand by human rights.
HAF is taking a usual stance that we can expect from BJP/Hindutva folks. Whenever they get into a corner, they scream - Hindus are in danger. Well no. The case in California is about so called upper castes discriminating lower ones. Luckily there are no Muslims to bash here. So HAF is faulting the state of california's position as Hinduphobic position when all that California is trying to do is ensure justice. The legal system clearly is limited because the Civil Right Law does not address Caste !!! We can't expect fairness from America if we are not fair to our own people. There is nothing wrong about discussing caste with the goal to remove such discrimination from American workplace. My 2 cents as usual.
Technically caste is a not a protected category in US, and thus Cisco has more than a fighting chance of winning the case.
Here is a primer about it.
https://today.westlaw.com/Document/Ia28d9d10d25e11ea85dce8228c52478f/View/FullText.html?transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=(sc.Search)
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/12/922936053/california-workplace-discrimination-system-sheds-light-on-caste-system
On Apr 29th, Santa Clara County Commission for Human Rights has organized a discussion on Caste System. HAF (Hindu America Foundation) not so surprisingly is not happy with such discussion.
Here are some more links to educate yourself.
https://samvadaworld.com/world/haf-files-motion-to-intervene-in-californias-case-against-cisco-systems-for-being-unconstitutional-and-violating-religious-freedom-of-hindus/
https://dsnuk.org/2021/02/02/the-hindu-american-foundation-file-against-the-county-of-santa-clara-in-the-cisco-case/
-----------------------------
If you ask me - I would say the CISCO employees (ex now) may or may not have merit. We just don't know. But I have and presumably you too have seen, first hand, discrimination based on caste (as well as region), with Indian employers as well as suppliers. I find it quite disgusting that we carry our biases in this land of presumably free. I am a very liberal person. Just like I support all immigrants, I also support human rights for every one. If people are being wronged based on Caste or religion or anything else, then we ought to stand by human rights.
HAF is taking a usual stance that we can expect from BJP/Hindutva folks. Whenever they get into a corner, they scream - Hindus are in danger. Well no. The case in California is about so called upper castes discriminating lower ones. Luckily there are no Muslims to bash here. So HAF is faulting the state of california's position as Hinduphobic position when all that California is trying to do is ensure justice. The legal system clearly is limited because the Civil Right Law does not address Caste !!! We can't expect fairness from America if we are not fair to our own people. There is nothing wrong about discussing caste with the goal to remove such discrimination from American workplace. My 2 cents as usual.