Indian PhD students reach $200,000 settlement with US university after discrimination lawsuit

Two Indian doctoral students have secured a $200,000 settlement from the University of Colorado Boulder after filing a civil rights lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and retaliation linked to an incident involving Indian food on campus.

The dispute dates back to September 5, 2023, when one of the students, Aditya Prakash, then pursuing a PhD in anthropology, was reheating palak paneer in a departmental microwave. According to his account, a staff member objected to the smell of the food and asked him not to use the appliance. Prakash said he declined, stating that he was simply heating his meal and would leave shortly.

The incident, the students allege, was followed by a series of retaliatory actions by the department after Prakash raised concerns about discriminatory treatment. In their lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, the students claimed the university engaged in escalating harassment, including repeated meetings with senior faculty, allegations that staff felt unsafe, and a referral to the Office of Student Conduct, despite Prakash being a fully funded PhD candidate at the time.

The second student, Urmi Bhattacharyya, said she lost her teaching assistant position without any explanation. She also alleged that when she and other students brought Indian food to campus days later, they were accused of provoking unrest — allegations that were later dropped.

Bhattacharyya settlement a stand against ‘food racism’

In a detailed Instagram post following reports on the case, Bhattacharyya said the settlement came after nearly two years of what she described as discrimination, retaliation and isolation within the university’s anthropology department. She claimed that despite initial attempts by the university to deny degrees and revoke funding, the legal action forced the institution to award their qualifications and reach a financial settlement.

Bhattacharyya said the dispute originated after a staff member objected to Indian food being heated on campus, which later led to restrictive kitchen policies, loss of employment roles, and what she described as sustained institutional pressure. She credited the filing of a civil rights lawsuit by her fellow student, Adi, for leading to the outcome.

Calling the settlement more than a personal win, Bhattacharyya said the case sets an important legal and moral precedent by drawing attention to everyday discrimination faced by Indians and South Asians over food and cultural practices — an issue she said is often dismissed or normalised.

She added that the outcome reinforces the need to challenge discriminatory behaviour rather than allowing institutions to evade accountability.