Cognizant: Cognizant to pay Rs 4 crore to settle CFO Jatin Dalal’s lawsuit with Wipro

Global IT services giant Cognizant Technology Solutions on Tuesday announced that its chief financial officer (CFO) Jatin Dalal has reached a settlement in the non-compete lawsuit filed by his former employer Wipro with a payment of $505,087 (around Rs 4 crore) related to arbitration case.

“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 Mr. Dalal and Wipro,” Cognizant said in a statement.

“On July 2, 2024, the Compensation and Human Capital Committee of the Board of Directors of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation approved the Company’s payment of $505,087 to Mr. Jatin Dalal, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, in connection with Mr. Dalal’s settlement of the lawsuit and related arbitration brought by his former employer, Wipro Limited (Wipro)…,” according to a regulatory filing on US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).

The arbitration had sought to obtain damages and injunctive relief arising out of Dalal’s purported breach of non-compete and confidentiality obligations under certain of Dalal’s compensation agreements with Wipro by joining the Company.

“The settlement was reached without admission of liability by either party. The Company’s payment covers Mr. Dalal’s settlement payment to Wipro as well as reimbursement of his legal fees,” the filing added.

This follows a more than seven-month-old lawsuit citing breach of employment contract filed by Indian IT major Wipro against Dalal who left the company as its CFO in November end 2023 to join the US-headquartered rival Cognizant on December 1.

“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,” said Dalal.Saurabh Govil, president and chief human resource officer, Wipro, said, “We are happy to have settled this matter. We are glad this issue has been resolved safeguarding our contractual rights. We wish Jatin well in his future endeavors.”

Another similar lawsuit was also filed by Wipro against its former senior executive Mohd Haque, who also similarly joined Cognizant during the same year. Wipro had levelled serious charges that Haque was in possession of confidential information whereby he uploaded and emailed “seven files” containing confidential information from his personal Gmail account in June last year.

Cognizant also confirmed that a similar settlement has been reached regarding the lawsuit between Wipro and Mohammad Haque.