Court to decide IBM Daksh case
By Rahul Kumar

The final conciliation meeting between the officials of IBM Daksh and its former employee Issac Mani failed to reach an amicable solution on September 18 when both the parties stuck to their guns at the office of Labour cum Conciliation officer. Now, the Labour Department has no other option but to recommend the case be tried in the Labour Court.   Isaac is keen to rejoin IBM Daksh, but the American giant is resisting such a move.

Issac, who was ousted from IBM Daksh in March 2007, allegedly on the charges of misconduct with his female colleagues, had moved the Labour Department last month seeking reinstatement of his job and recovery of dues. In a legal notice served to IBM, Issac had claimed innocence of all wrong doing and has alleged that he was thrown out of the company illegally in contravention of the Indian industrial laws. 

On September 10, at the very first conciliation meeting led by Labour cum Conciliation Officer P J Mann the concerned parties failed to reach any mutually agreeable settlement and the hearing was deferred for September 18. While commenting on the procedure of dealing with such complaints against the employers, the labour department officials said that the complaints filed by the aggrieved employees are first heard by the labour cum conciliation officers who attempt to make an out-of-court settlement between the two parties. If conciliation efforts fail, the case is forwarded to the head quarters to the Office of Labour Commissioner for further action. The officials said the Labour Commissioner then acts on the basis of the report submitted by the concerned Labour cum Conciliation officer and decides on whether to refer the case to the Labour Court for trial. If not convinced, the Labour Commissioner might not forward the case to the Labour Court for trial and vice versa. 

On September 18, Issac Mani as well as IBM Daksh officials maintained their original positions. The IBM officials seemed to be in no mood to take Issac back to the company and maintained that he was ousted on valid grounds by following due procedures. On the other hand, Issac continued to insist that he was innocent and was wrongfully thrown out of the company without being served the required charge sheet to him.

Now a Court will decide on the innocence or guilt of both the parties

(Techgoss had run the following story on August 11, 2008)

IBM Daksh defends action in court
By Rahul Kumar

It all began with a trivial remark to his female colleague in the Office cafeteria in IBM Daksh “If you sip it (the soft drink Maaza), it will become sweeter” in 2005 and ended up in 2007 when he allegedly forcibly washed the hands of another female colleague with water. And the former IBM Daksh employee Issac Mani lost his job which he claims was the outcome of cheap office politics. 

The above facts emerged during a conciliation meeting between Issac Mani and IBM Daksh officials which took place at the office of Labour cum Conciliation officer JP Mann in Gurgaon on September 10. However, the meeting failed to reach any amicable solution and hearing was deferred as both the sides stuck to their guns. Issac was ousted from IBM Daksh allegedly on the charges of misconduct with female colleagues in March 2007. 

IBM Daksh was represented by its manager (HR), Lokesh Panday, and senior executive (Statutory Compliance Strategic HR) Deepak Swami and they appeared with their lawyer. Issac Mani too came with his lawyer.  The IBM Daksh officials claimed that two girls on two separate occasions (in 2005 and 2007) had filed mental and physical harassment complaints against Issac. They maintained that no police complaint was filed against Issac who had also tendered a written apology to the management for his misconduct on both the occasions. 

The IBM officials alleged that in 2005, Issac had sent intimidating SMSs and e-mails to one of his female office colleagues after which she had stopped talking to him and had later made a formal complaint against him. Also in February 2007, he washed the hands of a female colleague forcibly.

Issac claimed that he was not given the opportunity of being heard nor was he served a charge-sheet by the company and was terminated illegally. The IBM officials admitted that a charge-sheet was not served on him, but he was given ample opportunity to explain his side of the story.  The labour cum conciliation officer asked Issac the motive behind moving the Labour Department after such a long time when his services were terminated in March 2007. He replied that earlier he was not aware of the laws and when he studied the justice system on the internet, he decided to petition the Government Department against IBM.

(Techgoss had run the following story on Sep 8, 2008)

IBM Daksh in Labour Court?
By Rahul Kumar

A former IBM Daksh employee, who was ousted from the company allegedly on charges of misconduct with female colleagues last year, has threatened to drag the company to a court of law if it failed to resume his services and clear all his dues. In a legal notice served to IBM Daksh, he claims that he was thrown out of the company illegally and in contravention of the Indian industrial laws. 

He claimed that he has been unemployed since his exit from IBM Daksh.  However, this former employee, Issac Mani, who was employed with IBM Daksh at its Udyog Vihar office in Gurgaon as a Customer Care Specialist has already moved the Haryana Labour Department for conciliation. The matter is pending for hearing with the Labor cum Conciliation Office of JP Mann on September 10, 2008.  If the matter is not resolved between the two parties amicably, the case would be forwarded to the Labour Court for trial, the labour department officials said.  In the legal demand notice served through his lawyer Dinesh Varma to the Director (HR) of IBM Daksh, Issac stated that he was appointed to IBM on January 27, 2002 and his services were confirmed on March 28, 2003.  He claimed that his services were illegally terminated on March 10, 2007 without being served any show cause notice, charge-sheet and any opportunity of giving his side of the story. He also went on to allege that the company retained his juniors, appointed fresh hands but he was not offered any opportunity to resume his services.  Issac also charged the company of adopting “Hire and Fire” tactics and of following the principle of “Last come, first serve”. 

However, the senior labour department officials said that they had been informed by the officials of IBM Daksh that Issac was thrown out of the company last year after the company received complaints from two female employees against Issac. The company officials have reportedly informed the labour department officials that they have all the evidence and documents to prove that Issac was ‘let go’ from the company on the charges of misconduct with his female colleagues and that he was served all the required notices.  The company officials have assured that they would be appearing before the labour cum conciliation officer with all necessary evidence on September 10.