Indian couple wins $200,000 settlement over ‘food racism’ at US university

An argument that started over heating a dish in a microwave ended with two Indian students winning a $200,000 settlement from a US university.

Aditya Prakash and his fiancee, Urmi Bhattacheryya, told the BBC that they filed a civil rights lawsuit against the University of Colorado, Boulder, after they faced a series of “microaggressions and retaliatory actions” following the microwave incident.

The harassment began, the lawsuit says, after a university staff member objected to Prakash heating his lunch of palak paneer – one of northern India’s most popular dishes, made of pureed spinach and paneer (considered the Indian equivalent of cottage cheese) – in the campus microwave, because of its smell.

In response to questions from the BBC, the university said it could not comment on the “specific circumstances” surrounding students’ claims of discrimination and harassment due to privacy laws, but added that it was “committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all students, faculty and staff regardless of national origin, religion, culture and other classes protected under the laws of the US and the university policies”.

“When these allegations arose in 2023, we took them seriously and followed established, robust processes to address them, as we do with all claims of discrimination and harassment. We reached an agreement with the students in September (2025) and denied any liability in this case,” said the university.

According to Prakash for them, the point of the lawsuit is not the money. “It’s about making a point – that there are consequences for discriminating against Indians because of their ‘Indianness’.”

The lawsuit has received significant media coverage in India since it was first reported last week, sparking a conversation about what many have described as “food racism” in Western countries. Many Indians on social media have shared their own experiences of facing ridicule for their eating habits abroad.

Others have also pointed out that food discrimination is also widespread in India, where non-vegetarian food is banned in many schools and colleges due to perceptions that it is impure or impure. People from poor castes and northeastern states often face discrimination in their eating habits, with some complaining about the smell of the ingredients they use.

And it’s not just Indian or South Asian food – communities from Africa, Latin America and other parts of Asia also share their experiences of being shamed for their eating habits.

Prakash and Bhattacheryya admit their ordeal began in September 2023. Prakash, a PhD student in the university’s Anthropology Department, was microwaving his lunch of palak paneer when a British staff member allegedly said his food gave off a “bad” smell and told him there was a rule against heating food with that strong a smell in the microwave.

Prakash said that the rule was not mentioned anywhere and when he asked which foods were considered spicy, he was told that sandwiches were not, while curry was.

Prakash alleged that the exchange was followed by a series of actions by the university that led to him and Bhattacheryya – who was also a PhD student there – losing their research funding, teaching roles and even the PhD advisors they had worked with for months.

In May 2025, Prakash and Bhattacheryya filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging discriminatory treatment and a “pattern of escalating retaliation” against them.

In September, the university settled the lawsuit. Such settlements are usually reached to avoid long and expensive court battles for both parties.

According to the terms of the settlement, the university agreed to give the students their degrees but denied all obligations and prohibited them from studying or working there in the future.

In its statement shared by the BBC, the university added: “The Department of Anthropology at CU Boulder is working to rebuild the trust of students, faculty and staff. Among other efforts, department leaders are meeting with graduate students, faculty and staff to listen and discuss changes that best support the department’s efforts to develop an inclusive and supportive environment for all.”

“Individuals determined to be responsible for violating university policies preventing discrimination and harassment will be held accountable,” it added.

Prakash says this is not the first time he has faced food discrimination.

When he was growing up in Italy, his school teachers would always ask him to sit at a separate table during lunch because his classmates found the smell of his food “off-putting”, he said.

“Acts like isolating me from my European classmates or stopping me from using a shared microwave because of how my food smells are how white people control your Indianness and limit the spaces you can be in,” she said.

He added that there is a long history of food being used to subjugate Indians and other ethnic groups.

“The word ‘curry’ has been mixed with ‘stink’ by marginalized communities who work in people’s kitchens and homes and has become a pejorative term for ‘Indian’,” he said.

Bhattacheryya says that even someone like former Vice-President Kamala Harris is not immune to food insults.

He pointed to a 2024 social media post by right-wing activist Laura Loomer that said if Harris becomes president, the White House “stinks like curry”. Loomer denies he is a racist.

In the case, Bhattacheryya also alleged that he faced retaliation after he invited Prakash to speak as a guest lecturer on the topic of cultural relativism in his anthropology class. Cultural relativism is the view that no culture is superior or inferior to another because the cultural practices of all groups exist within their own cultural context.

During the lecture, Prakash said he shared several examples of food racism he had encountered, including the palak paneer incident, without naming anyone.

Bhattacheryya said she also faced racist abuse when she posted a thread on X about the “systemic racism” she and Prakash faced at the university in 2024.

Under the post, there were many comments supporting the couple but also one saying, “go back to India”, “decolonization is a mistake” and “it’s not just food, many of you don’t bathe and we know it”.

Prakash and Bhattacheryya said that what they wanted from the university was to be heard and understood; for their pain and suffering of being “other” to be recognized and for changes to be made in a meaningful way.

They claim they have never received a meaningful apology from the university. The university did not respond to the BBC’s inquiry about this.

They have returned to India and said they cannot return to the US.

“No matter how well you do, the system always tells you that because of your skin color or your nationality, you can be sent back at any time. The danger is great and our experience at the university is a good example of this,” said Prakash.

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