Lloyd Austin hit with lawsuit by Indian American engineer claiming he was sacked for speaking in Hindi

‘Defendants abruptly terminated Mr Varshney after one of his white colleagues overheard him speaking Hindi to his dying brother-in-law in India’

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin attends a press conference after the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations on 29 July 2023 (EPA)

An Indian American engineer has filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was wrongfully fired last year from his long-time job with a missile defense contractor’s Alabama office after he was heard speaking in Hindi with a dying relative on a video call.

Anil Varshney, 78, filed a civil rights lawsuit in the Northern District of Alabama against Parsons Corporation and US defense secretary Lloyd Austin, whose department oversees the US Missile Defense Agency.

“This case arises out of Defendants’ intentional acts to end Mr Varshney’s highly distinguished engineering career because he is a 78-year-old Indian American,” the lawsuit read.

“Defendants abruptly terminated Mr Varshney after one of his white colleagues overheard him speaking Hindi to his dying brother-in-law in India and falsely reported him for a violation of ‘security regulations’.”

According to the lawsuit, Mr Varshney received a call from his ailing brother-in-law, KC Gupta, on 26 September last year while he was in office.

Aware that it could possibly be their last conversation, he moved to an empty cubicle to speak to him.

While the company at the time of the incident said he violated its security protocol by using Facetime at a classified worksite, Mr Varshney claims he ensured not being in possession of any classified material before taking the call, reported The Print.

He also claims there was no policy prohibiting the call he accepted.

Parsons has denied wrongdoing in their submission before the court and have sought to dismiss the lawsuit.

Mr Varshney, who worked in Parsons’ Huntsville office from July 2011 to October 2022, alleges in his lawsuit that his dismissal blackballed him from future work with the Missile Defense Agency.

He first began working for the federal agency in 2002 and continued in tandem with his employment at Parsons until 2022.

Additional reporting from agencies