CasteGate: The Untold Story begins with the California Civil Rights Department's caste-discrimination case involving Cisco Systems and Indian American engineers Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella. The case soon became part of a much wider campaign over caste in American workplaces, universities and public institutions. Some Hindu American advocates came to view that campaign as vilifying the wider Hindu American community by associating caste discrimination with Hindu identity. The controversy subsequently entered California politics through SB 403, a bill that sought to explicitly include caste within the state's civil-rights protections by defining it under ancestry.
The California Legislature passed SB 403 in 2023. Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed it on October 7, 2023, stating that discrimination based on caste was already prohibited under existing protected categories and that the bill was therefore unnecessary.
In April 2023, the CRD voluntarily dismissed its claims against Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella while continuing its litigation against Cisco Systems. The dismissal did not resolve the broader dispute over caste discrimination. It did, however, intensify debate over the evidence underlying the allegations, the reputational consequences for the individuals involved, and how the case was represented publicly. Litigation against Cisco Systems remains ongoing.
The film explores how allegations were presented, how American institutions discussed caste, and what can happen when civil-rights claims become detached from careful scrutiny of evidence and due process.
Drawing on more than 200 hours of interviews and research, as well as legal records, archival material and personal testimony, CasteGate reconstructs a controversy that continues to shape American debates about caste and discrimination.
What the Film Examines
- The Cisco caste case
- The SB 403 debate
- The public narrative around caste in America
- The role of CRD and advocacy organizations
- The role of media and academic commentary
- The impact on Hindu and Indian Americans
- Civil-rights law, due process, and evidence standards
- How to oppose discrimination without stereotyping minority communities
Streaming now on RELAY and FUTURE TODAY. Additional platforms, venues, and screening opportunities are coming soon.
Please subscribe to the official CasteGate YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@FicusMedia1/videos) for shorts, previews, interviews, and related programming.
The film unequivocally condemns caste discrimination while asking whether the Cisco case and the wider public debate received the evidentiary scrutiny, procedural fairness and institutional accountability that civil-rights enforcement requires.