Letter to BS: Google needs to stop rewarding those guilty of sexual assault

This refers to “Google paid $45 mn to former staff accused of sexual assault” (March 13). That Google, ranked as one of the best employers globally, chose to reward the accused, a senior vice-president there, with a hefty sum of $45 million instead of sacking him shows why sexual harassment of women at work will continue. The approach is to hush up the matter rather than punish the guilty. So it keeps happening — Uber there and Infosys here.

 

Also when bigwigs are complained against in India, cases linger on for a long time — such as those involving environmentalist and former Teri executive vice-chairman RK Pachauri or influential journalist Tarun Tejpal.

 

In cases where the employee fights the case while in service, they face sarcasm and humiliation. In a case I know of, the victim complained against the head of her department for sexual harassment. The management reluctantly initiated an enquiry due to her persistence but the enquiry was held in Maharashtra while the victim was posted in a southern state. She had to pay several visits to the state because the enquiry was postponed for one reason or other. Unless the senior managerial personnel detach lust from power and set good examples themselves, women will find the sword of Damocles hanging over their head.

 

YG Chouksey Pune

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