The Hindu : International / India & World : $5.5 million for sacked Indian engineer

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Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007
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International - India & World

$5.5 million for sacked Indian engineer

Silicon Valley: An Indian engineer, who was fired by her company after she complained of her senior’s racist conduct, has been awarded $5.5 million by a San Francisco Federal jury.

The jury found Kiran Pande’s former employer Chevron liable for wrongful termination and retaliation and ruled that she be given roughly $3 million for past and future economic losses, and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

Ms Pande, who is India-born and holds a Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Stanford University, was fired by Chevron in late 2003 after 15 years with the company.

After a three-week trial stemming from incidents that occurred between September 2000 and December 2003, the jury found that Chevron retaliated against Ms. Pande after she complained about discrimination and fired her for reasons that violated a public policy.

Chevron first hired Ms. Pande as a research engineer in 1988. But in 2001, Ms. Pande began to suffer racist remarks and discrimination at the hand of his senior Rex Mitchell, according to her complaint, filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

In a statement, the company said it was disappointed with the verdict and was focusing on a possible appeal. “Pande’s decision not to move to Houston with her department as part of a corporate restructuring is understandable. However, in voluntarily electing not to relocate with the rest of her colleagues, Ms. Pande’s decision led to her eventual severance.” — PTI

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