Winning a USD 200,000 (approximately Rs 1.8 crore) settlement against a major American university –over heating a lunch box containing ‘Palak Paneer’ sounds
like a dream, correct? Well, not so much. The money sure rolled in at the end, but it did come with its fair share of drama, “discrimination, retaliation, emotional distress, mental anguish, pain, suffering,” and whatnot. Confused? Allow us to start from the beginning. It was September 5, 2023, when Aditya Prakash- a PhD student in a US University- was heating his lunch box in a departmental microwave. The tiffin reportedly had ‘Palak Paneer’ in it, which seemingly began to create a smell– which was then pointed out by a staff member. “Pungent” was the term the staff member had used, “She said it was pungent,” Prakash was quoted as saying to the Indian Express. Prakash, who is now 34 years old, was a fully funded PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder at the time, in anthropology. “I told her calmly, ‘It’s just food. I’m heating it and leaving,” Prakash recalled. However, it turned out that it was not the end of it; what followed was a “pattern of discrimination and retaliation” for Prakash and Urmi Bhattacheryya, his partner. The couple reportedly filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Colorado, alleging that the university was engaging in a “pattern of escalating retaliation” after Prakash had shared his concerns over discrimination. The matter involved a problematic “departmental kitchen policy,” that had a “disproportionate and discriminatory impact on ethnic groups like South Asians.” Basically, it was creating hesitation among Indians over their food. A federal civil rights lawsuit alleging “discrimination and retaliation” was filed in May 2025, as per the Indian Express. ALSO READ: Why Is Donald Trump Trending Along With Title ‘Acting President Of Venezuela’ On Google Trends Today? Prakash reportedly began to face “repeated summons” and even “allegations” about making the staff feel “unsafe”. Reportedly, complaints were also filed against him with the Office of Student Conduct. Bhattacheryya, on the other hand, lost her teaching assistantship without any warning. Later, Bhattacheryya, along with a few other Indian students, brought Indian food to the campus just a few days later– only for the group to face “inciting a riot” allegations. As per the Indian Express, matters against Bhattacheryya were triggered after she had invited Prakash to speak on “ethnocentrism about his lived experience” in a class. Reportedly, 29 students from their department did issue a statement backing the couple; however, it did not mellow down the stress of the entire thing. So much so that even after winning a USD 200,000 settlement in September 2025, the couple chose to return to India permanently. As per the lawsuit, the university also granted the Master’s degrees, along with the agreement over barring the couple from “future enrolment or employment at the university”. “Going back would mean re-entering the same system, with the same visa precarity," Prakash was quoted as saying as per the Indian Express.“I don’t see myself going back,” he further quoted.
