Inappropriate messages put Quick Heal seniors in dock

13/1/2018

PUNE: A former female staffer of the leading IT security solutions provider Quick Heal last month filed an FIR, alleging that she was fired after she refused the advances of one of her superiors. The complainant has named not just this superior, but also three other senior members of the company.

These four employees were granted anticipatory bail by the Pune sessions court earlier this week. The woman in question told police that she had joined Quick Heal not too long ago, in May 2017. After she started working there, Nitin Petkar – one of her superiors – allegedly sent her “personal messages” on her mobile, while also trying to “interfere in [her] personal life”. She claimed that he would call her into his cabin and ask about intimate details of her life. Her complaint further states that Petkar commented on her clothes in June and July 2017.

Thereafter, the woman says she took up the matter with other company seniors, who assured her that Petkar would behave himself. However, on October 31 last year, she was summarily fired from her job.

A month after the sacking, the female staffer approached Vimantal police station to file an FIR for molestation and stalking. Apart from Petkar, she named associate director Basant Sekhani, global human resources head Malini Anadi Sathi and senior manager Mayank Dikshit from Quick Heal. Senior inspector at Vimantal police station, Sanjay Naik-Patil, informed, “We have recorded statements of all the four accused and are checking their track records. The investigation is underway and we have sought a legal opinion from the public prosecutor.”

Quick Heal Technologies Limited, a company spokesperson issued a statement saying, “These allegations are baseless. During the ex-employee’s service, she never raised any complaints with our anti-sexual harassment committee (ASHA). She had to leave for not meeting the basic expectations of the role, as per company policy, and left accepting her poor performance. She also came back to complete her exit formalities and took her full and final settlement. Thereafter, we were served a notice demanding Rs 21 lakh. As the company did not agree to this, a sexual harassment case was made without presenting any evidence to the company till date. We have presented all necessary proofs in court.”