Alleging that company did not act against VP, human resources, woman quits firm and lodges police complaint
Niramay Satpute
A 33-year-old former senior manager of a multinational stationery
company has accused its human resources department’s vice-president of
sexual harassment. The woman, who ran from pillar to post trying to get
senior company officials to give her a hearing, in vain, finally
approached the police.
She has lodged a complaint against the accused under IPC section 354D
and relevant IT Act sections with the Borivli police, who have
transferred the case to the Vanrai police. Senior inspector Jyotsna
Rasam said they are investigating the matter thoroughly.
Narrating her ordeal, the victim said she had first interviewed for
the position of senior manager at WorkStore Ltd in November 2016, and
accused Niramay Satpute had taken the interview. She was not hired
immediately, her CV kept for future vacancies. But Satpute allegedly
initiated a WhatsApp conversation, which mid-day has accessed, with her
in February 2017.
The victim said she didn’t immediately realise what his intentions
were, but when the chats started taking an unpleasant turn, she warned
him to stop. When he didn’t, she stopped responding to his messages in
June 2017.
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Hostile work environment
In December 2017, she got a call from the company for another interview.
This time, the CFO and CEO interviewed her and hired her. She was given
a team of four and asked to report to the CFO. Within three weeks, she
said, she witnessed employees’ “carelessness” towards their work with
data showing many “malpractices”. When she brought it to the CFO’s
notice, she was allegedly warned not to get into such details.
The victim said that when she approached Satpute to report the
matter, he refused to listen to her and called her the problem, which,
she alleged, was a result of his grudge against her. With no option
left, she contacted the CEO, at least five times. The company then asked
her to submit all the evidence against Satpute – the sexual harassment
in WhatsApp chats and his refusal to heed her warnings to stop – in a
sealed envelope and send the same to the HR department of Future Group,
under which the company comes.
She added that by then, her work environment had worsened, and
“unable to take it”, she resigned on April 14. But when she informed
that she would serve 15 days’ notice, she was asked to leave
immediately, on April 18, on grounds of non-performance. Upset over the
added humiliation, she went to the police on April 20.
Threat tactics
The victim alleged that on April 21 she was called by the company to
complete her exit formalities and meet HR officials of Future Group, but
instead, she was grilled by two advocates over the police complaint she
had lodged against the accused. She added she is being threatened by
the company, which has caused her mental agony.
She is planning to sue Future Group, and CFO, CEO and HR department of WorkStore.
A spokesperson for WorkStore said, “The group has initiated an
inquiry and appointed an external person for investigating the matter
and submit a report. Action will be taken accordingly.”
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