Raj Naidu, an immigrant engineer from India won a discrimination case against his former supervisor at the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC). [SF Gate]
Here’s the sad part to the story, his supervisor at the PUC was also an immigrant, from Iran.
Naidu, an engineer in the state PUC’s water division since 2001, received strong job evaluations until he got Moshen Kazemzadeh as a new supervisor in 2004, the court said.
Normally, when you got to go, you got to go. “Not so fast, my friend” said Raj’s supervisor. Reminding Raj of his childhood in India when he had to take the teacher’s permission to go to the bathroom, by holding up his pinkie, his supervisor instituted similar nanny rules for Raj specifically, it appears.
According to evidence presented at trial, Kazemzadeh prohibited Naidu from taking bathroom breaks without permission, withdrew previous supervisors’ approval for telecommuting, frequently shouted at him and deliberately gave him incorrect job instructions, hurting his performance.
Sabotaging his work by giving incorrect instructions, pretty classy, I should say.
To add insult to injury, Raj had to endure a paycut, thanks to his supervisor.
Based on the supervisor’s assessments, the PUC reprimanded Naidu in 2005 and cut his pay by 5 percent for six months, the court said.
Why this hatred towards Raj? Because he was an Indian.
Among other things, the supervisor, an immigrant from Iran, told Naidu, “I was able to dismiss one Indian before. … I will do it for you also,” the court said.
Evidence at the trial supported the judge’s conclusion that the PUC’s claim of poor performance was a pretext and that Naidu “was subjected to discipline because he was an Indian,” said Presiding Justice Barbara Jones in the 3-0 ruling. She said Kazemzadeh “made an overtly racist remark to (Naidu) and threatened to have him fired” but was allowed to remain his supervisor for more than a year.
Per the article, the claims have been corroborated by various witnesses.
Not finding much help from the authorities at the PUC, Raj had to resort to the legal system. In the end, Raj had the last laugh when he was awarded approximately $1 million dollar in losses and fees.
Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan, after a non-jury trial in 2007, found both harassment and discrimination and awarded Naidu $2,100 for economic losses, $545,000 for emotional distress and $499,000 in attorney’s fees. The appeals court agreed with Chan.
There are a few lessons American workplaces can learn from this fiasco.
1. Do not discriminate against the macacas.
2. Macacas hate to be separated from their money. Cutting money from a macaca’s paycheck? Consequences shall be dire.
3. And whatever you do, DO NOT stand between a macaca and the bathroom.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Loading ...