Lessons from TERI and the Pachauri case

What does The Energy and Resources Institute ’s ongoing handling of a complaint of sexual harassment against its former director general Rajendra K. Pachauri by a woman researcher tell us? But a report last year for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry by consultancy firm EY found that 31% of respondent companies were not compliant with the Sexual Harassment Act and 40% were yet to train their internal complaints committee members. Lawyer Sonal Mattoo, who supports various clients as an independent ombudsperson handling employee complaints, says, “There is definitely a tendency by some companies to take complaints lightly when the respondent is a star performer or in a senior management role.” But there is changing corporate awareness, she says: “A decade ago, companies were not even prepared to talk about this but now there is greater awareness where many companies are proactively putting mechanisms in place.” But the bottom line, she points out, is “good intentions and a zero tolerance stand” by management. We might want to remember that the law on workplace sexual harassment stems from the horrific 1992 crime against Bhanwari Devi, a government-employed social worker who was gang-raped for her work against child marriage.