Nashik: As pressure mounts on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) after nine FIRs were filed against employees at its Nashik BPO unit over allegations of rape, sexual harassment, and religious coercion, the company Friday said that a preliminary internal investigation found no official complaint made to its internal channels by the victims, as widely reported.
In a statement issued Friday, K. Krithivasan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of TCS, said, “While detailed reviews are still underway, a preliminary review of the systems and records pertaining to the Nashik unit indicates that we have not received any complaints of the nature that are being alleged on either our ethics or POSH channels.”
This statement comes four days after an internal investigation was set up.After suspending all employees accused in the case Sunday, TCS ordered an internal enquiry into the matter. On Monday, N. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, promoter and principal shareholder of TCS, announced that a thorough investigation would be undertaken by a team headed by Aarthi Subramanian, Chief Operating Officer and President at TCS.
According to police, nine FIRs have been registered based on complaints by at least eight women employees, alleging sexual harassment, rape, coercion, and attempts at religious conversion.
At least seven employees, including a senior HR official, have been arrested so far in connection with the case.
The FIR—accessed by ThePrint—said that some of the complainants, employed at the company, had filed oral complaints with the company. One of them purportedly lodged a written complaint with her superior manager.
Besides denying any such complaint, the company provided a clarification on one of the accused in the case—Nida Khan, who was reported to be working with the BPO’s HR department.
“Ms. Nida Khan who is being repeatedly mentioned in the press as HR manager of TCS, is neither a HR manager nor responsible for recruitment. She served as a process associate and did not hold any leadership responsibilities,” the statement by CEO Krithivasan read.
To assist Aarthi Subramanian’s internal investigation team, TCS has brought in external teams from Deloitte and is also seeking independent legal counsel from Trilegal.
“We have engaged the services of expert teams from Deloitte and a prominent law firm Trilegal as independent counsel to the internal investigation led by Ms. Aarthi Subramanian, President and COO, TCS,” Krithivasan’s statement said.
Moreover, the company has set up an oversight committee, which Keki Mistry, its Independent Director, will lead. Subramanian’s investigation team will submit the findings to this oversight committee.
“We have constituted an oversight committee chaired by Mr Keki Mistry, independent director. The findings of the internal investigation will be presented to the oversight committee for review and implementation of any recommendations.”
Reiterating its zero-tolerance policy, Krithivasan said, “TCS holds itself to the highest standards of employee welfare and institutional conduct. We remain fully committed to the safety, dignity, and wellbeing of every employee. As we have stated before, we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of coercion or misconduct. We are focused on supporting our employees and ensuring a safe and respectful workplace across all our locations.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)