Ex-Schwab Employee Alleges Racial, Religious Discrimination

A former Charles Schwab senior project manager of Indian descent has sued the firm, alleging he was discriminated against and fired based on his race, religion, national origin, sex and disability.

Dipesh Mehta, a Texas resident who describes himself as Indian and, as an adherent of the Jain religion, a vegan, contends in the lawsuit in Texas District Court that throughout his time at Schwab, he “was frequently left out of company luncheons and celebrations because there were no vegan options, and his religion requires a vegan diet.”

Schwab was made aware of his diet “but did practically nothing to accommodate his needs,” according to the suit. “Mehta also witnessed other ethnic-Indian employees leave (Schwab’s) employ due to harassment and discrimination.

“It was generally observed by Mehta and others similarly situated that white employees were treated better and with more respect. Providing vegan options at company events would not have been an undue burden,” the complaint contends.

The alleged discrimination extended beyond his vegan diet, according to the lawsuit, filed Friday, which contends he was treated less favorably than white, U.S. national employees and female employees in other respects.

The complaint notes Mehta started working at Schwab in late 2018 and in his latest role was responsible for projects valued from $1 million to $15 million and managed project teams of 5 to 20 people across various locations. The suit indicates he wasn’t involved with investments at the firm.

In June and July 2019, he took medical leave to treat his arm for repetitive computer use and “was retaliated against for requesting this accommodation by receiving a ‘coaching memo’ the following January, according to the suit. Mehta was given a performance review of “meeting expectations inconsistently” as a result of the time off, and was denied his 2019 bonus, it says.

Mehta was issued a “written performance warning” again in May 2020 with the same topics covered in a “coaching memo,” including poor communication style, and denied another bonus, he contends.

Feeling he was being discriminated against, Mehta complained to a vice president “but no action was taken against his white managers,” he contends. Instead, Mehta “was lectured about accepting the feedback as a ‘gift.’”

Mehta didn’t need time off the following two years, and received a “met expectations” rating for his 2020 and 2021 employment years and received bonuses both years, according to the lawsuit. Going into 2022, he ranked as “exceeding expectations” and his managers indicated he was on track to get a bonus the following year, the complaint says.

In summer 2022, however, Mehta wanted to apply for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to return to India to care for his ailing mother, who was a heart patient and was believed to have suffered a stroke.

Mehta’s manager persuaded him to work remotely while in India instead of requesting FMLA leave, but he contracted COVID while there and had to take medical leave in India, then developed “long COVID” symptoms, which extended his recovery, the suit contends; Mehta’s medical leave ended in early September 2022.

“Mehta sensed a shift in attitude from his managers when he returned from medical leave. They stopped asking about his mother, and were short with him in conversations as he continued to schedule follow-up appointments for himself and his mother,” who had accompanied him back to Texas, the lawsuit alleges.

He contends his billable time on a multimillion-dollar project was reduced from 100% to 50%, while the workload remained the same, and that he was removed from the project late last year. “He was told he was needed on newer projects but was never reassigned to any, thus indicating the explanation was a pretext for illegal discrimination,” the complaint says.

In late December 2022, Mehta was questioned about possible outside-business compliance issues related to his real estate license, which he had maintained since 2013, despite his not using it to earn any commission income once employed full time by Schwab, according to the suit. He deactivated his license and updated his company disclosures to show compliance.

“Despite his showing proof of his compliance with company policy, Mehta was terminated anyway on or about January 11, 2023, and was denied the bonus he was due to be paid the following month. Mehta was able to locate numerous examples of white and non-Indian employees of Schwab who were allowed to keep and actually use a real estate license, thus indicating the termination reason was a pretext,” the suit contends.

Mehta alleges violations under the Texas Labor Code and received a “right to sue” letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In terms of gender discrimination, Mehta alleges he was treated less favorably than female employees when he was fired after traveling to India to help care for his mother, and in that female Schwab employees were allowed to keep and use their real estate licenses.

Mehta seeks “back pay, front pay, benefits, future pecuniary losses, including retirement pay, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, other non-pecuniary losses and compensatory damages,” the suit indicates.

A Schwab spokesperson provided the following statement to ThinkAdvisor on Tuesday: “Schwab is committed to building, maintaining and protecting our dynamic and diverse organization and culture. We dispute these claims and will defend ourselves in court.”

Photo: Bloomberg