INDIA’S IT outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) needs to offer a good explanation for why engineers hired at its American outposts are 13 times as likely to be fired if they’re not South Asian.

The company is set to go on trial today in California over racial discrimination claims by American workers who lost their jobs at TCS offices in the United States because they hadn’t been assigned to any of its clients.

The trial will cast a spotlight on work-visa programs companies use to bring overseas workers to the United States, a practice U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized in his protectionist push.

TCS, Asia’s largest outsourcer, and rival Indian information technology staffing firms Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. have all been squeezed by the Trump administration to hire more Americans on U.S. soil.

Mumbai-based TCS denies any unlawful bias in its U.S. operations and says in court filings that the Caucasian American leading the lawsuit was removed from one of its projects and ultimately terminated over “performance concerns.” TCS said it can’t comment specifically on the pending litigation, but believes it has a strong case and will prevail at trial.

“Our success is based on our ability to provide the best talent available, both in the United States and globally, based purely on the individual’s specialized experience, skills and fit for each client’s specific needs,” a company spokesman said. “TCS also strictly adheres to all federal and state equal employment opportunity laws and regulations.”

The jury is expected to be shown statistical evidence that the odds of race and national origin not being a factor in TCS’s termination decisions are less than one in a billion. That’s because, since 2011, TCS fired 12.6 percent of its non-South Asian workers in the United States, compared with less than 1 percent of its South Asian employees.

A unit of the Tata Group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS employs more than 400,000 people worldwide, is valued at about US$100 billion and posted revenue of US$19 billion for the fiscal year that ended in March. Most of its revenue comes from the United States and its primary customers are in the financial services sector.

Still, these are challenging times for the company that pioneered the India tech services model five decades ago. The outsourcing industry barreled along at 20 percent-plus growth with little trouble until recently, but easy deals are now gone and customers are looking for price cuts.

(SD-Agencies)