Ramanathan (CTO) 13 April 2014

Abuse and emotional harassment at the workplace

Respected Lawyers,

I was working for a software company as an "Architect" (in 2013) for a team taken over by a Manager who is "PSYCHOPATHIC" in nature with a known history of "ABUSIVE" style of people-interaction (against which he had received warnings in the past as well). This Manager indulged in the following ABUSIVE INCIDENTS at my workplace near my seat by (1) Screaming at a well-performing junior employee from a different department at my seat, INSULTING him and his entire department for earning their salary while doing nothing (2) Literally issuing MURDER-CRY for another team-member with different kind of talents (who was NOT present at that time in office) while breathing fire over his slow-performance. I was doing well (with a personal appreciation & admiration from our big-boss in the USA for my imagination / technical skills) and working very hard at that time (12-14 hrs 6-7 days a week) but these incidents pushed me in to COMPLETE INSOMNIA in the next week with NIGHTMARES followed by a NERVOUS BREAKDOWN over the possibility of myself being ABUSED in the future. Supplemented by some previous incidents of EXPLICIT VERBAL INSULT / LACK-OF-RECOGNITION of my talents by this NARROW-MINDED, TERRORIST of a manager, I was left with NO OPTION but to immediately resign from my job (raising my concerns before the take-over by this manager to my previous manager had fallen in deaf ears, and an alternate opportunity for my seniority-level in the company was bleak). It SHOULD be mentioned that it took me well over a month after my resignation to recover from my DAMAGED PHYSICAL/MENTAL HEALTH resulting from the NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. I am now putting in my HUMBLE effort at alternate career interests (with no salary till date).

Looking at the STRINGENT LAWS in developed countries like the USA with the profile of many popular cases, I am sure that such ABUSE & HARASSMENT (Expressing ANGER at the workplace to KILL a team-member is NO JOKE: Look at what Indian Diplomat went through in the USA in 2013 over "alleged" ill-treatment of servant-maid!) will be worth a million-dollar lawsuit over there!

While I do not necessarily intend to go for any legal proceedings in the above matter at this point in time, for the BENEFITS and INFORMATION of readers including myself, it will be KIND OF ANY OF YOU experts to carefully read the incidents above and let us know:

(1) If this falls under any legal provision in India for "ABUSE AND EMOTIONAL HARASSMENT AT THE WORKPLACE"

(2) What are the relevant IPC(s)

Thanks!

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7 Replies

mahavir singh (ADVOCACY) 13 April 2014

You r in problem but you have certain rights you can book him under various law where upon he has to leave his job. There are various judgements passed by Hon'ble supreme court which are favourable for you.for more call 09910757998 mahavir singh advocate.

Sudhir Kumar, Advocate (Advocate) 14 April 2014

if he is continuously abusive why people do not object.

Ramanathan (CTO) 14 April 2014

Dear Sudhir Kumar, Good Question and here is the answer: I have first-hand information from his team member (as a consolidated opinion of majority of his team) that he continues his abusive style of people management and the whole team is unhappy (it has been a year since I left my job and I heard this feedback even 2 weeks ago that they still miss me as a technical resource and our previous manager for being an amazing manager!). Many of them like the "product" they are working on and hence do not have the courage to speak-up (reporting harassment in the professional world not yet being an easy thing to do in India for fear of negative repercussions), while others are looking for a job but not been fortunate enough to land one (in India interviews often tend to be "bookish" and hence clearing interviews often needs different abilities than actually performing on job!). In all honesty, note that this Manager has a sharp mathematical brain and is highly productivity-oriented which makes it difficult to get rid of him for the Company, just that he is playing a MISFIT of a role as people-manager while he is best-suited to be an individual contributor.

Sudhir Kumar, Advocate (Advocate) 16 April 2014

if the whole team is unhappy then why do not they leave the job.

Sudhir Kumar, Advocate (Advocate) 16 April 2014

Is he abusive with women also? If so to what extent.

Ramanathan (CTO) 18 April 2014

The answers to the 2 questions in the previous 2 replies is already available in the original post and my subsequent reply, if they are CAREFULLY READ. However, let me clarify (1) There is NO gender-specific abuse by this guy and whether male/female are subjected to the same kind of harassment. (2) Harassment always results from "EMOTIONAL ABUSE" of people IN FRONT OF OTHERS the nature of which can be ANY or ALL of the below:

#1 Mathematical / logical talents as the real definition of intelligence with NO RECOGNITION / EVEN INSULT of technical, creative or any other form of talents

#2 Saying in public he is the most intelligent and nobody else measures up to it

#3 Isolating out specific members in the team and saying / screaming they are low on intelligence and good for nothing!

#4 Discounting the contribution of others by measuring them MAINLY on the grounds of number of hours / volume of work (he is good at doing lots of work irrespective of quality) rather than the IMPACT of the same to the company

#5 Often talking about wanting to KILL all sorts of people he is unhappy with (from select Politicians of the Country to colleagues/team-members in his company).

On why people are not leaving the team, AS I ALREADY MENTIONED ABOVE, some of them LIKE the product under development and hence are JUST HANGING ON despite frustration over the manager, while others are trying for job but not fortunate enough so far.

Just for information, if it helps anyone looking at a job offer with this company in India, the company is a Printing and Publishing major based in California with office in Bangalore.

I would like to say that I HAVE GOT THE ANSWERS TO MY QUESTION, primarily that BEYOND the OBVIOUSLY UNCIVILIZED, such ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR ALSO AMOUNTS TO LEGAL VIOLATIONS. Thanks to all who replied, THIS THREAD STANDS CLOSED HERE, NO FURTHER REPLIES ARE ENCOURAGED!