In 2015, a man named Thirumalai Selvan from Chennai was fired by Tata Consultancy Services in a mass layoff. The 48-year-old man had worked for TCS for 8 years and held a managerial position. According to Times Now, while sacking him, the company claimed that his performance wasn’t up to the mark.
So Thirumalai Selvan decided to approach the court and fight a legal battle to get his job back. According to Zee News, TCS claimed that Selvan was working in a managerial post and wasn’t eligible to come under the category of ‘workman’. But C Kumarappan, the presiding officer of the Principal Labour Court argued that the reason for not mentioning Selvan’s other duties was “nothing but a subterfuge, to camouflage his principal nature of duty.”
Selvan was a mechanical engineer and worked in his core sector for 4 years and then entered the software department in 2001. He became a part of TCS as an assistant systems engineer in 2006 after having completed a professional course that cost him Rs 1 lakh.
After losing his job, Selvan was forced to work as a freelance consultant and take other odd jobs like real-estate brokerage. His monthly income had dropped to Rs 10,000.
“I would have travelled to the court more than 150 times in the last seven years,” he said.
And now, the court has ruled in his favour. TCS has been ordered to reinstate him with “continuity of service” and pay back the full salary along with all other benefits “from the date of his termination till the date of his reinstatement” i.e. he will be getting his full 7-years worth of salary along with other benefits.
“Justice anywhere is hope everywhere and a reminder to all who are forcing employees to resign,” said the Forum for IT Employees (FITE) that celebrated the judgement.
What do you think of this case?