TOI had reported about Haque becoming a member of Cognizant in two articles revealed in September and October.Wipro has referenced The Occasions of India’s article within the information associated to the case. Wipro has demanded a jury trial. When TOI reached out to Wipro, the corporate mentioned it doesn’t touch upon issues which can be sub-judice.
Haque joined Wipro in 2010 as VP of enterprise software providers in Bengaluru. Haque, a two-decade veteran at Wipro, was promoted as SVP and sector head for healthcare and medical units for the Americas final 12 months. He was managing a workforce of 21,000 individuals accountable for P&L, gross sales, technique, supply, consulting, and account administration.
Upon Haque’s promotion to the position of Wipro’s SVP and localization as a US worker, he was eligible to obtain greater than $1 million in fairness awards over a few years. Haque, Wipro’s grievance confirmed, that he agreed to sure restrictions on his post-employment actions, together with to not work for a small set of Wipro rivals for twelve months after his employment ended.
Every of the fairness agreements incorporates a non-competition covenant within the employment settlement prohibiting employment with Cognizant for the twelve months post-employment.
Wipro additionally alleged that Haque uploaded a number of Wipro information and despatched them exterior Wipro to his private electronic mail account. “Shortly earlier than his resignation was to be efficient, Haque surreptitiously uploaded a number of Wipro information and despatched them exterior Wipro to his private electronic mail account. Haque additionally misrepresented his intentions to Wipro on a number of events, untruthfully telling the Firm that he was not planning to work at Cognizant. Up to now, Haque has not even up to date his LinkedIn to mirror his new employment,” Wipro mentioned in its grievance towards him filed in a US court docket.
Haque confirmed that his final day can be June 30 this 12 months, however he continued working throughout his discover interval and continued to make use of and depend on Wipro’s confidential data. “On or about June 20, 2023, simply as Haque was nearing the tip of his contractual discover interval (and fewer than two weeks earlier than his self-determined resignation date), Haque uploaded and, upon data and perception, emailed from his private Gmail account, seven Wipro information (collectively, the “Recordsdata”), in direct violation of the phrases of his Employment Settlement,” the grievance mentioned.
Wipro’s IT methods flagged Haque’s actions, and the corporate wrote to Haque on June 22 alerting him that Wipro was conscious of his violation of firm coverage and his contractual obligations, and reminding Haque of his post-termination restrictive covenants, together with the non-competition covenants.
Wipro mentioned it requested Haque earlier than and after his resignation whether or not he was going to work for Cognizant. Haque, every time, denied that he was going to work for Cognizant. Wipro additionally requested Haque to signal a written certification confirming that he was not nonetheless in possession of any Wipro confidential data and that he had both returned or deleted completely all such data. Haque, the grievance mentioned, refused to signal the certification. Wipro’s counsel despatched Haque a letter on September 29 reminding him of his contractual obligations to Wipro and the results for his breaches.
Haque’s counsel responded by letter on October 6 informing Wipro that the previous had been employed by Cognizant since August 1 after allegedly accepting an employment provide in July 2023 to turn out to be Cognizant’s chief business officer, the grievance confirmed.
Wipro mentioned Haque’s employment with Cognizant is a transparent breach of his non-competition covenants attributable to Cognizant’s standing as a direct competitor of Wipro, Haque’s high-level, business position for Cognizant which, upon data and perception, will make Haque accountable for all 4 of Cognizant’s enterprise segments, together with well being sciences (which he was accountable for at Wipro).
As per the phrases of his employment settlement, Haque agreed “to pay Wipro such sums as can be equal to his gross remuneration earned by him over the past twelve (12) months of service with the corporate” if he violated his noncompete covenant. Haque, Wipro mentioned, acknowledged this consequence of his breach when reviewing the employment settlement in 2021.”
Haque additionally agreed that he would “be liable to pay Wipro” the worth of the ADS or multiplying the entire variety of ADSs or PSUs awarded by the share worth on the date of the award. He has not repaid Wipro the remuneration he obtained over the past twelve months of his employment, nor has he paid the corporate the worth of the ADS and PSU awards, the grievance mentioned.
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