Mohammed Ali Sues Big US IT Firm Accenture For Discrimination
Mohammed ali an IT employee of Giant IT Consulting firm Accenture has sued the company for religious discrimination. Mr. Ali claims that firm had discriminated against him and other like him who took companies career growth program but were never promoted or given dues citing religion.
Last week, Accenture got sued again, by a Muslim Indian man bringing allegations similar to those lodged by Kent. In the new suit, Mohammed Ali alleged that he was paid a lower salary and demoted, and that he didn’t receive an annual bonus, because of his race and religion. According to Ali, he regularly exceeded annual sales targets, with the exception of fiscal year 2015. He claims he was paid less than his counterparts and was given a $50 million sales target, while his colleagues had targets of $30 million.
His manager, who’s white and who knew Ali is a practicing Muslim, justified the elevated target by telling Ali he “wasn’t going to be like Bernie Sanders and give handouts,” according to the complaint, and also told Ali he agreed “with all of Trump’s views.” The statements were allegedly made during the first half of 2016 when then-candidate Donald Trump was calling for a Muslim immigration ban.
Ali ended the fiscal year with $40.9 million in sales. The complaint alleged that the company “shorted” him on other deals, “so as to falsely deflate Mr. Ali’s sales production for the year.” Ali claims he was demoted shortly thereafter. “The discrimination has caused Mr. Ali significant economic harm—in the neighbourhood of seven figures,” according to the lawsuit, filed in Houston federal court.
In a statement, Accenture said it’s committed “to inclusion and diversity” and “that no one should be discriminated against because of their differences.” But with regard to Ali’s case, company spokeswoman Stacey Jones said his claims “are without merit.” Ali’s attorney, Mark Oberti, declined to comment.