Infosys top gun quits, charged in US sexual harassment case

India's largest-listed software house and Nasdaq-listed Infosys Technologies today announced that Phaneesh Murthy, a member of the board of ...

India’s largest-listed software house and Nasdaq-listed Infosys Technologies today announced that Phaneesh Murthy, a member of the board of directors and head (Sales and Marketing and Communication & Product Services), has resigned from his posts with immediate effect.

According to the statement, Murthy has cited ‘‘the need for personal time to devote attention to, and pursue a successful defence of, a recent lawsuit filed against him and the company’’ alleging ‘‘wrongful termination and sexual harassment’’ as the reason for his resignation.

Infosys president, managing director and chief executive officer Nandan Nilekani said the case against Murthy and the company has been filed in a US court. ‘‘I cannot comment further as it is before the US court,’’ he said.

Story continues below this ad

In a separate statement, chairman and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy said: ‘‘Phaneesh has been an integral part of Infosys’ growth in the last 10 years. He has performed outstandingly in Sales and Marketing and Communication and Product Services and we are sorry that he has tendered his resignation in these circumstances. We wish him well for the future.’’

Meanwhile, Infosys announced that it has appointed its current regional manager and vice-president sales (West North America) Basab Pradhan as its new senior vice-president and head (worldwide sales), taking over part of Murthy’s portfolio. Pradhan joined Infosys in October 1994.

Before joining Infosys in October 1992, Murthy was with the sales and marketing department of a Bangalore-based software services firm called Sonata Software Ltd.

From 1992 to 1996, he was based in the US as the Infosys marketing manager. From 1996 to 2000, Phaneesh was the senior vice-president and head (worldwide sales). He came on the board of Infosys in May 2000 and was also on the board of its business process management subsidiaries, Progeon Ltd and the US-based Workadia Inc.