• Harrasment Metted Out By a Female Colleague

Hi,

I have a female colleague which has been making snide and disrespecting remarks at me at the workplace. I have let it go on a not taken it seriously since it was within closed groups. However, recently she has started public humilitaion including body shaming and remarks against my eating habits. at an office party on one such comment which she was hosting, when I tried to leave quietly as I felt bad about the comments, she shouted and humiliated me in front of the whole office. The HR inspite of being there did not intervene. Now I seem to have noticed a subdued vendetta against me.

Please help me with legal solutions regarding the same
Asked 6 years ago in Labour

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13 Answers

Send her a legal notice calling upon her to forthwith mend her ways and restraint from spreading derogatory remarks and insinuations against you which have the effect of causing an injury to your reputation.

The above legal notice will be a final warning.

If she repeats her habit of defaming you again, file a defamation suit against her.

Vibhanshu Srivastava
Advocate, Lucknow
9600 Answers
303 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You can file a case for defamation and insult directly or you can give her legal notice asking damages and last opportunity to stop this.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hello,

I would advise you to first talk to her to refrain from such activities or talk to your HR before taking any legal recourse. Since you have to work in the same workplace it will not be good to initiate legal action.

If things dont work out, even after this, then serve a legal notice upon her and thereupon file a complaint with the police station.

Regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18078 Answers
377 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) You can give proper complaints against her to your head of the department and keeping HR in cc.

2) See what response you received from them, If there is no improvement than again forward same chain of email keeping Top management in BCC.

3) If still problem does not solve give warning to HR that you are going complaints again her in the police station.

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
12930 Answers
255 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

Please first of all exhaust all remedies available to you to save yourself from future false cases that may be filed by her. First send a mail to HR keeping your manager and top executives of your office in loop. If they don't take any action send her legal notice that you will be constrained to file defamation case against her besides seeking for exemplary damages from her. Better to take latter step if she doesn't mend her ways.

Swarnarka Chowdhury
Advocate, Mysore
1879 Answers
5 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The acts done by your wife amounts to criminal intimidation and verbal abuse along with defamation.

So if the management takes any action against you on her false complaint you can consider lodging a complaint agaisnt her with the local police.

if the HR spares you then you can ignore lodging such complaint though I always find it advisable to at least inform the police about any illegality done by another,

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22824 Answers
488 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear client: being jealous, egostic & with rampage destructive mind is a common phenomena in work place.

You are bearing the brunt by keeping quite and being patience. You have said its a cloaed door affair within the office , now before bringing the matter beyond the close door you should approach in writing with the management of your company. Get reply from the management / directors etc in writing before any external action is taken.

Vijay Sahni
Advocate, Delhi
28 Answers

4.0 on 5.0

Dear Sir,

You seems to be very sensitive person, yes, her action is over action and for which she has to pay out both in criminal way and civil way. We can file suit for civil suit quantifying damages of Rs. 5 lakhs and criminal case under the following seciont of IPC.

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Section 499 in The Indian Penal Code

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499. Defamation.—Whoever, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter expected, to defame that person. Explanation 1.—It may amount to defamation to impute anything to a deceased person, if the imputation would harm the reputation of that person if living, and is intended to be hurtful to the feelings of his family or other near relatives. Explanation 2.—It may amount to defamation to make an imputation concerning a company or an association or collection of persons as such. Explanation 3.—An imputation in the form of an alternative or expressed ironically, may amount to defamation. Explanation 4.—No imputation is said to harm a person’s reputa¬tion, unless that imputation directly or indirectly, in the estimation of others, lowers the moral or intellectual character of that person, or lowers the character of that person in respect of his caste or of his calling, or lowers the credit of that person, or causes it to be believed that the body of that person is in a loathsome state, or in a state generally considered as disgrace¬ful. Illustrations

(a) A says—“Z is an honest man; he never stole B’s watch”; in¬tending to cause it to be believed that Z did steal B’s watch. This is defamation, unless it fall within one of the exceptions.

(b) A is asked who stole B’s watch. A points to Z, intending to cause it to be believed that Z stole B’s watch. This is defama¬tion unless it fall within one of the exceptions.

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Section 500 in The Indian Penal Code

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500. Punishment for defamation.—Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Kishan Dutt Kalaskar
Advocate, Bangalore
6136 Answers
487 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

Please file a case of defamation under section 500 of IPC against the lady to defame you and let her share the pain.

Vimlesh Prasad Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
6852 Answers
23 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

1) issue lady legal notice to refrain from passing abusive comments against you

2)call upon her to tender an unconditional apology failing which you would file defamation case against her for maligning your reputation

3) if she refuses to do so file defamation case against her under section 500 of IPC for maligning your reputation

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94725 Answers
7536 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Collect evidence of her such acts of harassing and insulting you by audio/video recording her said statements.

2. Keep collecting the said evidence for a reasonable period.

3. Thereafter lodge a police complaint against her with the said evidence.

4. If police does not register FIR based on your said complaint, file a Writ Petition praying for a direction upon the police to register FIR against her, investigate and act based on your complaint.

5. You can also file a defamation suit against her claiming substantial amount towards causing mental and social damage to you.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27219 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

If the HR does not intervene then initially serve her a lawyer's notice to caution her to mend her ways, and if better sense still does not prevail on her then a criminal case for defamation may be filed by you against her in the competent criminal court.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

If you are aggrieved over her remarks against you in public then you can very well issue a legal notice for her derogatory remarks insulting you without any reason.

Her undesired behavioral attitude towards you in public should be due to some background, did you find out the reason?

No doubt you may ignore all such petty issues but it is not necessary that you have to always take them lying low, you can rise up to the situation and initiate legal steps by first issuing her a legal notice for the imputations made against you to defame your name and reputation in public by insulting or passing disparaging or derogatory and defamatory comments on you, demanding apology and compensation, failing to invoke any response you may file a criminal private complaint under section 500 ipc for defamation.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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