Love Sex & Dhokha At Work Place

Not all office romances have a fairy-tale ending like the Obamas. In some cases, love turns sour and complications arise. No wonder HR honchos dread co-workers falling for each other and then falling apart

- Ankita Mookherjee

On a rainy evening after work, a young woman in her 20s took a lift back to her rented apartment in Bengaluru with her team leader. He dropped her off and headed home. Somewhere over coffee and PowerPoint presentations, they started dating and fell in love. They kept it a secret because they were not sure how others in the team would react but, as in most romances, word got out.

One day, the team leader’s wife decided to surprise him by showing up at the office. He had never shared that he was married and that his wife lived in another city. Things unravelled fast from here. The woman felt her colleague had put her reputation at stake because by then she was already being subjected to ridicule and scrutiny.

She felt betrayed and after a lot of deliberation, she decided to put in a written complaint to human resource (HR) department saying that her team leader was a predator who had singled her out as she was young and lived alone, he had a ‘good time’ and had kept his marriage a secret from her. The firm set up an internal committee. The case fell under Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act. After going through the complaint, the office, surprisingly, transferred her to another location.

Harassment is not limited to a particular gender. Take the case of the married senior government employee, who found himself subjected to unwelcome advances from a female colleague who worked as a peon in the department. Despite his indifference, she continued to send him suggestive texts and explicit content.

The woman, disgruntled at her overtures being rejected and reprimanded for neglecting her duties, filed a complaint under the POSH Act. The office Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) displayed bias, assuming the "sole testimony of women" as sufficient grounds for charges under POSH Act, while disregarding evidence of his victimisation. The case is still being heard.