Did tech giant Cognizant skirt the law on H1-B visas? Company faces lawsuit in US

Tech Giant Cognizant is facing heat in the United States as case has been filed under False Claims Act (FCA) alleging that that Cognizant might have underpaid for visa costs for its foreign employees. Cognizant that was hoping to get the suit dismissed faced a setback when the a district judge in New Jersey not only refused to dismiss the case but observed the misuse of the cheaper visas by the company.

As per ET the judge while refusing to dismiss the case stated in the order that “By paying for L-1 and B-1 visas but directing its employees to perform work that required the more expensive H-1B visa, Cognizant decreased—and made false statements material to—its obligation to pay money to the government.”

The claim against Cognizant is that it allegedly sends workers to the United States using business or intra-company visas, instead of through the more expensive and harder to get H-1B work permits.