Ambedkar International Center USA has filed an Amicus Brief in Cisco Caste Discrimination Case in California, USA.

Ambedkar International Center has filed an amicus curiae brief opposing Cisco’s demurrer and motion to strike, which are scheduled to be heard next month.

This brief would help the court rule on Cisco’s motions by shedding light on the nature of caste discrimination. As the brief makes clear, caste is hereditary, and casteism is therefore a form of ancestry discrimination forbidden by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Casteism is also a form of race and color discrimination.

Read also Cisco Caste Discrimination Case – Understand the Threat of Brahmins as Power-Hungry Monsters

Ambedkar International Center has filed an amicus curiae brief opposing Cisco’s demurrer and motion to strike, which are scheduled to be heard next month. pic.twitter.com/RtN9pdE0rd

— Ambedkar International Center (AIC) (@ambedkar_center) February 23, 2021

“May a California employer discriminate against an employee because he was born a Dalit — that is, a member of India’s “untouchable” caste? Defendant Cisco Systems, Inc. asks this Court to rule for the first time that such casteism in the workplace is legally permissible.”

“Casteism is diametrically opposed to the assumptions underlying the Fourteenth Amendment and American civil rights law, including the FEHA. Casteism is just as illegal under those laws as other forms of descent-based discrimination that are more familiar to Americans.”

“The intent of the Fourteenth Amendment was to abolish caste legislation, and the intent of civil rights laws such as the Fair Employment and Housing Act was to abolish casteism of all kinds in the private sector. By banning employment discrimination on the basis of ancestry, race, and colour, the FEHA bars employers from discriminating against a worker because he is a Dalit. Cisco’s demurrer and motion to strike should accordingly be overruled.”

Ambedkar International Center is dedicated to understanding and disseminating the ideas of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who fought to eradicate caste discrimination and make Indian society more just. AIC is joined in this filing by the organizations and scholars whose names appear at the end of the brief.

Organizations:
• Ambedkar King Study Circle
• Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance
• Boston Study Group Inc.
• Ambedkarite Buddhist Association of Texas
• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar International Mission Center
• Ambedkar Educational Aid Society
• Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha – Bay Area, California
• International Bahujan Organization CA
• Hindus for Human Rights, USA

Eminent Scholars:
• Kevin D. Brown, Richard S. Melvin Professor of Law, University of Indiana Maurer School of Law
• Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University
• Shailaja Paik, Associate Professor of History, Yale University
• Annapurna D. Waughray, Reader, Manchester Law School, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Hari Bapuji, Professor of Strategic Management and International Business, University of Melbourne
• Scott R. Stroud, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Program Director of Media Ethics for the Center for Media Engagement, University of Texas at Austin.
• Meena Dhanda, Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Politics, University of Wolverhampton
• Gaurav Pathania, Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology, Georgetown University
• Sunita Viswanath, co-founder of Hindus for Human Rights and Sadhana.
• Tanojkumar Meshram, Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) in Social Policy, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University