Tata may be the biggest company that you’ve never heard of. The car manufacturer, which holds the distinction of having built the cheapest car ever, the Tata Nano, is India’s largest company in the automobile and commercial vehicle sector. In 2007, it was one of the top 20 largest automakers worldwide and was ranked globally as the second-largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. And in 2008, it acquired the British Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) business from Ford.
Tata is making news in the US more for its business practices than for its business. This week, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the motion of Tata to compel its employees to arbitration in India, rather than in California where the claims were raised. Tata was also unsuccessful in an attempt to dismiss a nationwide class-action lawsuit filed by its employees.
At issue in the lawsuit are claims that overtime was not paid, claiming that they were exempt. The lawsuit also alleges that Tata required its non-U.S.-citizen employees to sign Powers of Attorney for the purposes of filing tax returns with a designated third party and requiring those employees to endorse and sign over their federal and state tax refund checks to the company.
More information about the allegations will, I’m sure, become available as the case moves to trial.
