Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) — A former Oracle Corp. senior sales manager sued the company alleging he was fired for complaining when he was told to offer an Indian worker he sought to transfer to California substantially lower pay than white workers in the same position.
Ian Spandow, who was a senior regional manager in database sales, claimed his December termination was in retaliation for his opposition to what he called a discriminatory practice "of paying Indian employees wages that are substantially lower than those paid to Caucasian employees," according to a civil rights complaint filed Jan. 7 in federal court in San Francisco.
When he objected to the practice, he was told by his sales director that the salary would be "good money for an Indian," according to the complaint.
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Spandow, who joined Oracle in 2005, sought approval in September to transfer an Oracle employee in India with seven years and a successful track record at the company to California, according to the complaint. Spandow said his request for salary equal to what the company pays white workers was denied and he was told to offer significantly less — $50,000 to $60,000, according to the complaint.
Oracle's human resources manager insisted that it was fair to offer the lower salary, Spandow alleged in the complaint.
Deborah Hellinger, a spokeswoman for Redwood City, California-based Oracle, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Spandow, who is from Ireland and was working for Oracle on an L-1 visa, said the firing was unlawful discrimination based on his national origin and retaliation and is seeking unspecified damages, according to his complaint.
The case is Spandow v. Oracle Corp., 14-cv-00095, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
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