There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for Indian IT giant Infosys. Days after its former head of immigration Erin Green sued the company for discrimination against non-Asian employees, Infosys is set to pay up $1 million to the state of New York for flouting visa norms.
The settlement comes after a whistleblower had claimed that Infosys brought foreign IT workers to New York but did not pay the prevailing wages to hundreds of them and also did not pay the applicable taxes. The announcement was made by Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
"We will not permit companies to violate our laws in order to undercut New York workers. My office is committed to ensuring that our state's labor marketplace is fair, competitive and transparent for all," Schneiderman said in a press release on the New York state attorney general's website.
The statement also explained that Infosys obtained B-1 visas – temporary visitor visa -- for its employees instead of the required H-1B work visas, thereby saving up on taxes.
"Infosys workers using B-1 visas were doing work that would otherwise have been performed by U.S. citizens or H1-B visa holders, and were paid significantly less than what comparable U.S. workers or H1-B visa holders would have been paid in the same positions," the statement added. "Consequently, New York was deprived of taxes that should have been paid on the higher wages that Infosys avoided by its misconduct."
Meanwhile, Infosys believes that it committed no wrongdoing and has rejected all the allegations made against it. "Infosys' agreement concludes the state of New York's investigation relating to the amount of taxes the company paid in 2010-2011 without any criminal or civil charges being filed," Live Mint quoted an Infosys spokesperson as saying.
The firm also said that it has its policies in perfect place and ensures that they are adhered to. The IT giant also said that despite the issue, it will continue to focus on the United States, where it plans to hire 10,000 employees in the next two years and also develop four technology hubs.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Infosys has been accused of flouting visa norms in the US. In 2013, the tech giant had paid $34 million to settle a case. While it denied any of the charges, it agreed to pay the sum to close the case.
