Forced resignation case – Pune police denies permission for ‘Satyagrah protest’ outside EXFO

NP NEWS NETWORK

Pune

The Pune city police on Friday denied permission to Forum for IT Employess (FITE), Maharashtra, who wanted to stage protest outside EXFO company in Magarpatta City on August 15.

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FITE is protesting against alleged removal of
37-year-old IT professional, Aman Khan, who has alleged that he was forced to resign after he raised his voice against “religious discrimination” and “mental harassment” by his senior manager.

Khan, through FITE, had given a letter to Hadapsar police station on Thursday seeking permission for ‘Satyagrah’ protest.

However, on Friday police informed Khan that permission has been denied. “You have already given complaint against the company and our investigation is going on. Also, at present protests cannot be held as restrictions have been imposed in the city on any kind of protest. If you organise protest, legal action will be taken against you”, stated senior police inspector Sunil Tambe, incharge of Hadapsar police station.

Few days back, Khan and FITE had held a press conference to inform that they will sit on protest outside the Labour Commissioner’s office from August 15 for not taking action on his complaint.
They had also talked about launching awareness campaign in Magarpatta city area against forced resignations in IT companies.

Khan worked as a technical lead with EXFO Electro-optical India Pvt Ltd since September 2015. He has claimed that the company’s HR had told him about termination of his services on June 12 and “forced” him to sign his “resignation” letter.

“On April 6 this year, when I returned after offering Namaz a senior manager called me to his cabin and started discussing the religion matters, and made remarks over my religious practices and attire. There was heated argument between us,” Khan had told reporters.

He claimed that after he reported the matter to HR to take action against the manager, the management supported the manager. It was only when Khan had complained to the company head office in Canada that the manager tendered a written apology.

However, Khan was removed from the company. Later he lodged a complaint with the Labour Commissioner in June.

The company in a statement had said, “EXFO is an Equal Opportunity Employer and we have utmost respect for our employees and their beliefs. We value our employees and we are proud to have a diverse workforce. We do not tolerate any kind of discrimination. We take any feedback from our employees very seriously. Our employee attrition rate is one of the lowest in industry. Annual performance management is a well-established process and it is aimed at retaining our high performing employees. Out of respect for employee privacy, EXFO does not comment on individual employee conduct/performance”.