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In a recent incident, an employee named Nitka Kumari of HSBC's Global Service Centre in Hyderabad has publicly alleged severe workplace toxicity, including ethnic harassment, just as her tenure at the company is coming to an end.
Kumari, who is a CDD Analyst at HSBC, took to LinkedIn to share her experiences, highlighting significant issues within the company's environment and HR policies.
In a post, Kumari described enduring several disturbing events over the past year, which they initially dismissed as typical corporate culture challenges.
However, these incidents became serious when they affected Kumari, leading to mental health issues and panic attacks.
"There have been quite a few incidents that happened during the last one year which I neglected thinking, 'Isn't this what corporate life feels like?' I neglected everything to the point where it became unbearable for me," Kumar wrote.
Sharing her recent experience, which happened on April 22, 2024, Kumari wrote that she was subjected to ethnically insensitive remarks by her colleague Ajmeera Ashok.
"The exacts words which was used by him is 'EK CHAMAAT MAARENGE, BIHAR PAHUCH JAOGI' which exactly means - I will slap you so hard, you will go back to Bihar," Kumari wrote in a post.
Despite following the proper protocols and reporting the incident to their manager and the HR department, Kumari said the response was inadequate, as no significant action was taken.
"I did follow the protocol and informed my manager Ayeesha Talukdar about the whole incident but nothing came out of it, except for a team meeting where I was told that my colleague did not physically assault me, it was just a hatred comment which I can let go of," She wrote.
Further exacerbating the toxic environment, another incident occurred during a smoke break when a colleague named Vinay Kumar Rajuldev, AMO from the UK CDD team, made inappropriate and objectifying remarks.
"The comment he made was 'Tmhare jaisi ladki hum aaj tk ni dekhe hai, akele pura UK team ka naam kharab kr k rkhi hai.' which means - He has never seen a girl like me, I have ruined the name of their team. I did ask him the reason for saying such things to which he replied 'tmhare alawa kisi UK team ki ladki ko hm ni dkhe hai cigarette pite huye' which means - he has never seen any girl from the UK team smoking cigarettes," She added.
Netizens reaction
The post has gone viral, garnering over 77,000 likes, with many users taking to the comments section to share their reactions.
"Never, i repeat never come to the conclusion without hearing both sides. We never know if she is telling the truth," a user wrote.
"Quit the company and find a good place to work..Money comes eventually but good environment is very rare in corporate culture," another wrote.
"This is pure defamation under IPC 499 and outraging modesty of women. Kindly file a report in All women police station in your area against that person. Company will try to amicably settle the issue, which will only worsen the situation. Call 14454 for legal guidance. It's free for women," a third wrote.
"I'm always proud of people who are able to file such complaints at the workplace, because I realised I couldn't. Despite being a confident person, I found it difficult to navigate situations where I can do nothing but stay quiet. Apparently complaining against a colleague or manager creates nothing but more discomfort they make it a point ruin your mental health instead, and let's not even begin how much toxicity it creates at the workplace. All the power to you," a fourth added.