Former iGate Technologies in-house lawyer Karetha Dodd sued the company and its global general counsel (GC) Mukund Srinath, alleging that Srinath and others at the company had repeatedly sexually harassed and once sexually assaulted her, resulting in her constructive dismissal, reported The Recorder.

Dodd, who resigned from the Bangalore-based technology company mid-2013, continuing for a short while as an outside consultant, filed a complaint on 15 January 2015 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, through her Oakland-based advisor Randal Aiman-Smith, partner at Aiman-Smith & Marcy.

Dodd, who was iGate’s Head of Legal for the Americas and was retained for $300,000, stated in her complaint:

“When [Dodd] refused to have a sexual relationship with [Srinath] he retaliated by taking negative employment actions against her as herein alleged. Moreover, as set forth herein, during her employment, Plaintiff was subject to retaliation by her supervisor and other senior-level iGate executives in the form of negative employment actions when Plaintiff gave truthful testimony about the possible sexual harassment of another iGate employee, Araceli Roiz, at the hands of iGate’s CEO Phaneesh Murthy.”

In her complaint Dodd narrated how Srinath pressured her into taking him to a strip club, having drinks at the strip club and at the hotel where he was staying.

She also alleged that at a meeting where the CEO, Phaneesh Murthy, was present and did not intervene, another male executive rubbed his hands on her legs, grabbed her hands and tried to kiss her despite her “repeated comments” that she was uncomfortable with this behaviour.

In a separate incident, she claimed that Srinath sexually assaulted her on her visit to India by grabbing her by the shoulders and placing her hand on his erect penis, at a dinner with him in iGate’s corporate apartment. She did not report this incident that had “terrified, humiliated and traumatised” her to the company, she said, because “she was afraid to do so and had no idea how to do so given the obvious support that Srinath had at iGate, and given the cavalier attitude toward sexual harassment issues displayed by iGate’s highest executives”.

She stated:

“As a member of the harassment committee [Dodd] came to learn about the complete lack of investigation of previous claims of sexual harassment and discrimination made by iGate employees prior to [Dodd’s] tenure as Head of Legal (Americas) for iGate, and therefore, [Dodd] reasonably believed neither the CEO nor iGate as an organization, nor its highest executives, took its own policies seriously and, therefore, [Dodd] reasonably believed she had no one else to turn to for assistance.”

The “conditions were such that no reasonable person could be expected to endure them” and “accordingly, Plaintiff was forced to resign her position at iGate”, stated her plaint.

iGate told the Times of India in a statement: “We have completed a thorough investigation into this claim, and have found that it is unequivocally without merit. We intend to vigorously defend this action. Igate has a zero tolerance policy on harassment of any kind, and is committed to maintaining a caring and nurturing workplace.”

Legally India has reached out to Srinath via email.

Srinath is iGate Corporation’s senior vice president-legal, corporate secretary and global general counsel. He has been with the company for more than 14 years, after a six year stint at SmithKline Beecham Pharma India which he left in 2000 as senior manager-legal and company secretary.

He began his career in 1983 as secretarial officer at First Growth Fund of India, followed by stints as assistant company secretary and company secretary at three other Indian companies.

Dodd was the general counsel for Patni Systems’ subsidiary Patni Americas until iGate acquired Patni in 2011 and Srinath became her supervisor.

Photo by Intap2007

iGate sexual harassment complaint (via therecorder.com)