When Palak paneer Lunch Break Became a Legal Flashpoint ends in $200,000 payout

• Indian PhD students faced alleged discrimination over reheating Indian food on a US campus.

• A 2023 microwave incident escalated into claims of systemic retaliation.

• The couple sued the University of Colorado Boulder for civil rights violations.

• Settlement in September 2025 awarded $200,000 and Master’s degrees.

• Case spotlighted cultural bias, food stigma, and inclusion gaps in academia.

  
  

What began as an ordinary lunch break on a US university campus ultimately reshaped the lives of two Indian scholars, turning a routine moment into a prolonged legal battle over discrimination, culture, and belonging. For Aditya Prakash and Urmi Bhattacheryya, the simple act of reheating a home-cooked Indian meal set off a chain of events that ended with a $200,000 civil rights settlement and their departure from the United States.

According to reporting by The Indian Express, the couple—both doctoral students at the University of Colorado Boulder—alleged that they faced sustained discriminatory treatment linked to the food they ate on campus, particularly Indian dishes perceived as having a strong aroma.

How an everyday lunch escalated

The incident that triggered the dispute occurred on September 5, 2023. Prakash, then enrolled as a PhD student in the university’s Anthropology Department, warmed up his lunch—palak paneer—in a shared departmental microwave. He had been part of the programme for about a year at that point.

Prakash later said a staff member confronted him, objecting to the smell of the food and asking him not to use the microwave. The food was described to him as “pungent.” Prakash said he responded without hostility, asserting that he was simply heating his meal and would leave shortly afterward.

That exchange, he said, marked the beginning of what he viewed as a broader pattern of unfair treatment.

From complaint to courtroom

In conversations with The Indian Express, Prakash explained that matters escalated after he raised concerns about the incident. According to him, the department later declined to award him and Bhattacheryya their Master’s degrees—credentials that PhD candidates at the institution typically receive during the course of their doctoral studies.

“That was the point where we felt we had no option but to pursue legal action,” Prakash said.

The couple filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, accusing the university of retaliating against them after they spoke up. Their complaint cited what they described as a departmental kitchen policy that disproportionately affected South Asian students by discouraging them from opening or heating their meals in common areas.

The lawsuit argued that these actions caused significant emotional and psychological harm, including stress, anxiety, and mental suffering.

Settlement and its terms

In September 2025, the legal dispute concluded with a civil rights settlement between the university and the two students. Under the agreement, the University of Colorado Boulder paid Prakash and Bhattacheryya $200,000 and awarded them the Master’s degrees they said had previously been withheld.

The settlement also stipulated that neither individual would return to the university as a student or employee. According to The Indian Express, the couple permanently relocated to India earlier this month.

A moment that changed everything

Reflecting on the episode, Prakash described food as deeply personal and culturally rooted. He said ideas about what smells “good” or “bad” are shaped by social norms rather than objective standards.

He recalled challenging comparisons made by faculty members, arguing that context matters. As he put it, certain foods become stigmatized not because of their properties, but because of who is associated with eating them.

Their stance found support among peers. The couple said 29 fellow students from the Anthropology Department publicly backed them, criticizing what they viewed as a damaging response to food-related policies. Those students pointed to the department’s own statements on systemic racism, arguing that commitments to diversity should extend to everyday practices.

A broader climate of unease

Bhattacheryya said she faced consequences shortly after the initial incident. Two days later, she invited Prakash to speak in one of her classes on ethnocentrism, where he shared his lived experiences without naming anyone or detailing the specific confrontation.

She also connected their experience to what she described as a shifting social and political atmosphere in the United States, particularly following Donald Trump’s return to power. In her view, institutional language around inclusion increasingly clashes with a declining tolerance for discomfort—especially when that discomfort is voiced by immigrants or people of colour.

The university’s response

In a statement to The Indian Express, university spokesperson Deborah Mendez-Wilson said the institution denied any wrongdoing despite agreeing to the settlement. She emphasized that the university followed its established procedures for handling allegations of discrimination and harassment, and reiterated its commitment to maintaining an inclusive campus environment.

Academic and personal fallout

Prakash said that before the incident, he was a fully funded doctoral student. Afterward, he alleged that he was repeatedly called into meetings with senior faculty, accused of making staff feel unsafe, and referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

Bhattacheryya said she lost her teaching assistant role without warning or explanation. She also alleged that when she and several other students brought Indian food to campus days after the incident, they were accused of attempting to provoke unrest—claims that were later dismissed by the Office of Student Conduct.

Originally from Bhopal, Prakash and Bhattacheryya, who is from Kolkata, met in Delhi before pursuing higher education in the US. Bhattacheryya initially began her doctoral studies at the University of Southern California before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder.

What started as a disagreement over a meal ultimately became a defining chapter in their lives—one that reshaped their careers, tested institutional commitments to inclusion, and prompted a permanent return home.