Posted on 01/14/2014 8:21:14 PM PST by coldphoenix
A former Oracle sales manager is suing the vendor, alleging he was fired shortly after complaining of discriminatory actions by his superior and other company officials.
Ian Spandow was a high-performing sales manager at Oracle in Europe and later California, according to his lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. After coming aboard in 2005, he trained more than 1,000 new hires and gave skills coaching to hundreds of others, the suit states.
Spandow was subsequently promoted in January 2008 to the position of coaching manager, and after continued success was promoted to work as a sales manager at Oracle's U.S. headquarters in Redwood Shores, according to the suit.
Despite performing well in his new role, Spandow, who is Irish, "experienced discriminatory and retaliatory conduct based on his national origin and after his complaint of various improper practices, including the company's discriminatory pay practices of employees based on their national origin," the suit states.
In September 2012, Spandow asked for permission to transfer an Oracle employee working in India to California. Spandow wanted to give the employee, who had a good track record, "a compensation level that was equivalent to Caucasian employees hired by Oracle for the same position." But Spandow's manager denied the request and told Spandow to offer the worker a "substantially lower" amount of money, according to the suit.
"I can't in good conscience, even mention $50K/$50 to him," Spandow said of the employee in an email to his supervisor, Ryan Bambling, that was cited in the lawsuit. "It would be nothing short of discriminating against him based on his ethnicity/country of origin. How or what do I have to do/write to get a reasonable (60+) offer to him?'
This prompted a "stern response" and warning to Spandow, the suit claims.
Spandow subsequently raised his concerns with his sales director, Keith Trudeau, who said the lower salary offer would be "good money for an Indian," according to the suit.
An Oracle human resources manager, Melissa Bogers, later insisted to Spandow that the lower offer was fair, the suit adds.
Spandow was "summarily terminated" without warning on Dec. 5, 2012, just weeks after the dispute over the salary offer, according to the suit.
Spandow has suffered "humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish and severe emotional and physical distress," according to the suit, which also alleges that Oracle has engaged in a pattern of paying Indian employees less than whites.
He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, a declaration that Oracle's conduct was unlawful, and "all injunctive relief necessary to bring [Oracle] into compliance" with related laws, according to the suit.
Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger declined to comment on Spandow's allegations Monday.
More and more it becomes evident how American engineers got flushed out of the Silicon Valley….
"...good money for an Indian. a person no one can understand."
That's what he SHOULD have said.
They should just monetize their blogs. [groan]
For someone coming over on a work visa who (I presume) won’t be paying taxes, 50k is beyond good.
You should be able to pay people just enough so they’ll work for you. That is how markets work. If some commodity doesn’t get bought for some price, there’s a reason.
Well, now they can just another couple of zeros to the check.
Really?
Are you able to understand the gov of LA?
What a really ignorant statement you made.
Why wouldn’t they pay taxes?
I think this is the company that fires people by email.
$50k is nothing in Redwood Shores.
If someone on a green card can prove a “closer connection” to another country, pays taxes to said country, and resides in the US for only a certain number of days per year, they don’t pay taxes.
Hasn’t the guy been here for years?
"In September 2012, Spandow asked for permission to transfer an Oracle employee working in India to California."
Larry Elison is a jerk, and treats all his employees like trash, doesn’t matter where they are from.
Then, by the same token, people should work just enough so that they get paid. They shouldn't put more enthusiasm, care, and effort into their work than is necessary to obtain that paycheck. After all, that's how markets work.
[But that's not how I work.]
Regards,
As far as I know if you are an Indian working abroad you are considered an NRI (min 6 months) and you dont have to pay taxes to the country of India, as the Indian tax revenue system assumes you are paying the local host country taxes.
This is done to avoid double taxation on the individual where he end sup paying taxes both at home and at the country he is working.
Now if the host country is not collecting tax, that becomes a different discussion altogether. (in India, the tax is deducted from the income directly, not sure how it works in the US)
This is one side of the story.
“...Spandow asked for permission to transfer an Oracle employee working in India to California...But Spandow’s manager denied the request...”
or
“...Spandow wanted to give the employee, who had a good track record, “a compensation level that was equivalent to Caucasian employees hired by Oracle for the same position.” But Spandow’s manager denied the request...”
It is not clear to me if this Indian employee ever came to California or not.
If not, it seems that Spandow’s superiors are really saying that 50K is good money in India, which is very different than saying 50K is good money for an Indian in California.
“[But that’s not how I work.]”
Go get a higher paying job if you think you’re worth more.
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