Nasdaq-listed, IT services firm Cognizant Technology Solutions on Tuesday said that its chief financial officer, Jatin Dalal has reached a settlement in the non-compete lawsuit fled by his former employer, Wipro by paying $505,087 (around Rs 4 crore) in an arbitration case.
Cognizant also said that former Wipro senior vice president Mohammad Haque’s lawsuit has also been settled with Wipro.
Industry observers said that this is probably the first time in the recent past that such kind of settlement relating to non-compete clause has taken place in the IT sector.
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“The terms of the settlement, which was reached without any admission of liability by either party, are confidential. The settlement resolves all pending disputes between Dalal and Wipro,” Cognizant said in a filing.
“I am grateful for my journey with Wipro and I am pleased to have this matter behind me. I’m looking forward to continuing to drive Cognizant’s growth agenda while delivering value to our clients, employees, and shareholders,” Dalal was quoted as saying in the statement.
On July 2, the compensation and human capital committee of Cognizant’s board of directors had approved a payment of $505,087 to Dalal in connection with his settlement of the lawsuit and related arbitration brought by his former employer, Wipro, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The arbitration sought damages and injunctive relief arising from Dalal’s alleged breach of non-compete and confidentiality obligations under certain compensation agreements with Wipro by joining Cognizant.
“The settlement was reached without admission of liability by either party. The payment by the company covers Dalal’s settlement payment to Wipro as well as reimbursement of his legal fees,” the filing said.
Saurabh Govil, chief human resource officer, Wipro, said the company is happy to have settled the matter. “We are glad this issue has been resolved safeguarding our contractual rights. We wish Jatin well in his future endeavors,” Govil was quoted as saying in a release.
In November, Wipro had filed a lawsuit against Dalal, accusing him of violating the non-compete clause in his employment contract by joining rival Cognizant within 12 months of his last work date. In a counter move, Dalal requested the court to refer the matter to arbitration in his application.
It was referred to arbitration by the Bengaluru City Civil Court in a hearing on January 3.
Reacting to the developments, Wipro had said on January 12 that there’s nothing personal or targeted in the way the company is dealing with contractual obligations, referring to the lawsuits the company has filed against Dalal and Haque.
Haque, the former head of healthcare and medical devices for the Americas, had joined rival Cognizant as its SVP and business unit head for life sciences, before the end of his non-compete clause tenure till August 1, 2023.
Wipro in its complaint had alleged that Haque had seven files with confidential information, which was sent from his personal Gmail account as flagged by its IT team.
Wipro and Infosys have seen many exits by top executives in the last one year and several of them joined rival Cognizant. According to reports, Cognizant has hired nearly 20 senior leaders from Infosys and Wipro.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
