Pachauri complainant leaves Teri after 11 ‘harrowing’ months
A 29-year-old research analyst who filed a sexual harassment complaint against climate scientist RK Pachauri resigned from The Energy and Resources Institute on Wednesday, alleging the organisation treated her in the “worst possible manner” and repeatedly harassed her.
The woman said the institution harmed her “mentally, physically and economically” after she lodged a case against former Teri chief Pachauri last February. She alleged the institute protected the environmentalist against a complaint that triggered a massive debate on workplace sexual harassment laws in the country.
“It felt as if I am the culprit who has done something extremely wrong by complaining against the chief. Instead of standing by me, the organisation provided Pachauri full immunity. The last 11 months were harrowing,” she told HT.
But Teri refuted the charges late on Wednesday and said it was “completely fair and neutral” without favouring anyone.
“The organisation has accorded special privileges to the complainant and acceded to all her demands. The complainant was allowed special leave with full pay and benefits,” a statement read.
The 74-year-old was sacked as the Teri chief in July after being accused of sending the victim inappropriate emails, text and WhatsApp messages . But the scientist said his phone and email account were hacked into. An internal inquiry committee found him guilty of misconduct and several female employees threatened to go on strike if he was reinstated, saying the incident has irreparably dented Teri’s global reputation.
But the complainant alleged that the organisation continued to shield Pachauri, forcing the complainant to change her job profile, transferred her to another department and asked her to go to the Gurgaon branch instead of the main office at the India Habitat Center.
“They changed my work profile without consulting me and didn’t revert when I asked for an explanation. I told them I cannot work with the other department as I have no experience working for the said profile. However my requests were not heard,” she said.The organisation, however, said the woman was given an option to work in another department after she sent a request to allow her to work from home. “To accommodate her request to the extent possible and to ensure that she would be able to work on subjects consistent with her qualifications, she was given the option to join Teri’s world-class Nano Biotechnology Centre, located just a few minutes from her home.”