Dear All Learned & experienced friends,
I need your advice. I’ve been wrongfully and illegally terminated from my confirmed service without citing any reason, and by victimizing me as I highlighted all non-compliant practices in which higher management were involved.
Background of Termination
I'm designated as an Area Business Manager in an MNC in India. Under the Whistleblower policy, I informed the HR Director about wrong and non-compliant practices where higher management is involved. Within 10 days, the MD and HR came to my city and started interrogating me on false allegations. Then they sent a ticket for me to come down to the HO without any mail invitation or agenda. I went, and they suggested I stop all investigations and destroy all evidence. I resisted, so they forced me to resign. I didn't resign and came back. They immediately canceled my return ticket and locked my Outlook Express. They tried to snatch my laptop, which has all the evidence. I resisted and came out of the office. I told them I would hand over everything to the Global Compliance Committee. I have reported this to the Global Compliance Team.
Termination Letter
The same evening, they sent a termination letter to my personal mail ID. The matter of the letter is as follows: "Refer to the discussions you had today at Head Office. Your services are being terminated with immediate effect. You were requested to hand over all company assets to your supervisor. You willfully and knowingly left the office without handing over company assets. When called and requested to return to the office to return assets, you again refused and are returning to your hometown. We are therefore constrained to file an official complaint for the recovery of our company assets."
Response to Termination
The next day, I replied to the same mail and denied accepting termination without citing any reason. I wrote the following: "Request you to kindly take note of the fact that I do not accept this termination letter as it has not been issued in adherence to the relevant labor laws of India, and it's not in accordance with the provisions laid down in the principle of natural justice. Therefore, keeping in view the procedural lapsation made herein during the issuance of my termination letter, I hereby request you kindly withdraw this letter of termination of services, which has been issued wrongfully and illegally immediately, failing which I'll be compelled to take shelter of relevant regulatory as well as judicial bodies to seek justice from all ends. Moreover, request you kindly take note of the fact that I've not returned the company assets which are in my custody since the termination letter is itself null and void. Awaiting your kind cooperation and response in this regard."
HR's Reply
One week later, HR replied: "An internal office note to this effect was circulated for termination of the relationship in compliance with the requirement of the Clause of Severance. It is the intention of communicating this decision that you’ve been flown to HO to meet your supervisor. The order passed by the management in effecting separation of relationship in a simplicitor manner, and it’s appropriate and based on an office note approved by management in this behalf 2 days earlier."
I expressed to them to return IT assets and replied, "I'll hand over all said assets under protest and without prejudice to my rights and contentions." I expressed my grievances relating to illegal termination and requested a fair opportunity of defense. I wrote to HR that: "You have mentioned that I have been terminated as per the provisions of the Severance Clause of my appointment letter. The Severance Clause of my appointment letter states as follows: Your services can be terminated by the Company by giving you two months' notice or two months' salary in lieu of the notice period. Similarly, in the event of your resignation, you shall give two months' notice or salary in lieu of two months' notice period. You shall not be entitled to adjust your pending leave/salary in lieu with the notice period unless so permitted by the Company. Unless otherwise directed by the Company, you will continue to discharge your duties during the entire notice period. Your resignation shall not be effective unless accepted.
If at any time, in the opinion of the Company, which is final in this matter, you are insolvent or found guilty of dishonesty, disobedience, disorderly behavior, negligence, indiscipline, absent from duty without prior permission, committing a breach of any of the terms, conditions, and stipulations contained in the appointment letter and on your part to be observed and performed or in violation of one or more terms of the said letter, or any other conduct considered by the Company detrimental to its interests, your services are liable to be terminated forthwith, without any notice/salary in lieu of notice period, without prejudice to any other action, rights, or remedies available at law.
As per paragraph (1) of clause (7) of the referred appointment letter dated, it has been categorically mentioned that the Company is free to terminate me at any point of time subject to two months' prior notice.
As per paragraph (2) of clause (7) of such appointment letter, it has been mentioned that the Company is at liberty to terminate upon the establishment of the fact that there has been dishonesty, disobedience, disorderly behavior, negligence, indiscipline, absent from duty without prior permission, committing a breach of any of the terms, conditions, and stipulations, etc., at any point of time.
It is pertinent to mention here that neither any two months' prior notice was served upon me, nor any allegation as mentioned in paragraph no. (2) of clause (7) was levied, communicated, or established upon. In case of allegations regarding dishonesty, disobedience, disorderly behavior, negligence, indiscipline, absent from duty without prior permission, committing a breach of any of the terms, conditions, and stipulations, if any, it is a settled point of law that such allegations ought to have been communicated to the person against whom they are made, and such person should get a fair chance to defend himself.
I beg to state that no such allegations were ever communicated to me. Thus, we can conclude that there are no such allegations. I was illegally and arbitrarily terminated. Such termination has been a sheer violation of my fundamental rights. I would also like to state that I have been forced by the Company to surrender my laptop, phone, and iPad, which were given to me by the Company containing all relevant documents during my service. I have returned them without any prejudice to and reserving my rights. In these circumstances, you are hereby requested to inform me under which provision of clause (7) of my appointment, I was terminated."
HR's Final Response
HR replied as follows: "Please note that Severance Clause para 1 provides for termination by giving 2 months' notice or 2 months' salary in lieu of notice period. This clause is very specific. There is no requirement to give you 2 months' notice before termination of services, nor do you have any RIGHT to a hearing in any manner. You’re advised not to impute such types of allegations in your letter. Your notice pay will be released with full and final settlement."
Seeking Advice
Can HR send this kind of termination letter without any show cause, domestic enquiry, and opportunity to defend the allegations?
How can I challenge them in Civil Court? What should I do now? Please help me with your expertise advice.
From India, Mumbai
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I need your advice. I’ve been wrongfully and illegally terminated from my confirmed service without citing any reason, and by victimizing me as I highlighted all non-compliant practices in which higher management were involved.
Background of Termination
I'm designated as an Area Business Manager in an MNC in India. Under the Whistleblower policy, I informed the HR Director about wrong and non-compliant practices where higher management is involved. Within 10 days, the MD and HR came to my city and started interrogating me on false allegations. Then they sent a ticket for me to come down to the HO without any mail invitation or agenda. I went, and they suggested I stop all investigations and destroy all evidence. I resisted, so they forced me to resign. I didn't resign and came back. They immediately canceled my return ticket and locked my Outlook Express. They tried to snatch my laptop, which has all the evidence. I resisted and came out of the office. I told them I would hand over everything to the Global Compliance Committee. I have reported this to the Global Compliance Team.
Termination Letter
The same evening, they sent a termination letter to my personal mail ID. The matter of the letter is as follows: "Refer to the discussions you had today at Head Office. Your services are being terminated with immediate effect. You were requested to hand over all company assets to your supervisor. You willfully and knowingly left the office without handing over company assets. When called and requested to return to the office to return assets, you again refused and are returning to your hometown. We are therefore constrained to file an official complaint for the recovery of our company assets."
Response to Termination
The next day, I replied to the same mail and denied accepting termination without citing any reason. I wrote the following: "Request you to kindly take note of the fact that I do not accept this termination letter as it has not been issued in adherence to the relevant labor laws of India, and it's not in accordance with the provisions laid down in the principle of natural justice. Therefore, keeping in view the procedural lapsation made herein during the issuance of my termination letter, I hereby request you kindly withdraw this letter of termination of services, which has been issued wrongfully and illegally immediately, failing which I'll be compelled to take shelter of relevant regulatory as well as judicial bodies to seek justice from all ends. Moreover, request you kindly take note of the fact that I've not returned the company assets which are in my custody since the termination letter is itself null and void. Awaiting your kind cooperation and response in this regard."
HR's Reply
One week later, HR replied: "An internal office note to this effect was circulated for termination of the relationship in compliance with the requirement of the Clause of Severance. It is the intention of communicating this decision that you’ve been flown to HO to meet your supervisor. The order passed by the management in effecting separation of relationship in a simplicitor manner, and it’s appropriate and based on an office note approved by management in this behalf 2 days earlier."
I expressed to them to return IT assets and replied, "I'll hand over all said assets under protest and without prejudice to my rights and contentions." I expressed my grievances relating to illegal termination and requested a fair opportunity of defense. I wrote to HR that: "You have mentioned that I have been terminated as per the provisions of the Severance Clause of my appointment letter. The Severance Clause of my appointment letter states as follows: Your services can be terminated by the Company by giving you two months' notice or two months' salary in lieu of the notice period. Similarly, in the event of your resignation, you shall give two months' notice or salary in lieu of two months' notice period. You shall not be entitled to adjust your pending leave/salary in lieu with the notice period unless so permitted by the Company. Unless otherwise directed by the Company, you will continue to discharge your duties during the entire notice period. Your resignation shall not be effective unless accepted.
If at any time, in the opinion of the Company, which is final in this matter, you are insolvent or found guilty of dishonesty, disobedience, disorderly behavior, negligence, indiscipline, absent from duty without prior permission, committing a breach of any of the terms, conditions, and stipulations contained in the appointment letter and on your part to be observed and performed or in violation of one or more terms of the said letter, or any other conduct considered by the Company detrimental to its interests, your services are liable to be terminated forthwith, without any notice/salary in lieu of notice period, without prejudice to any other action, rights, or remedies available at law.
As per paragraph (1) of clause (7) of the referred appointment letter dated, it has been categorically mentioned that the Company is free to terminate me at any point of time subject to two months' prior notice.
As per paragraph (2) of clause (7) of such appointment letter, it has been mentioned that the Company is at liberty to terminate upon the establishment of the fact that there has been dishonesty, disobedience, disorderly behavior, negligence, indiscipline, absent from duty without prior permission, committing a breach of any of the terms, conditions, and stipulations, etc., at any point of time.
It is pertinent to mention here that neither any two months' prior notice was served upon me, nor any allegation as mentioned in paragraph no. (2) of clause (7) was levied, communicated, or established upon. In case of allegations regarding dishonesty, disobedience, disorderly behavior, negligence, indiscipline, absent from duty without prior permission, committing a breach of any of the terms, conditions, and stipulations, if any, it is a settled point of law that such allegations ought to have been communicated to the person against whom they are made, and such person should get a fair chance to defend himself.
I beg to state that no such allegations were ever communicated to me. Thus, we can conclude that there are no such allegations. I was illegally and arbitrarily terminated. Such termination has been a sheer violation of my fundamental rights. I would also like to state that I have been forced by the Company to surrender my laptop, phone, and iPad, which were given to me by the Company containing all relevant documents during my service. I have returned them without any prejudice to and reserving my rights. In these circumstances, you are hereby requested to inform me under which provision of clause (7) of my appointment, I was terminated."
HR's Final Response
HR replied as follows: "Please note that Severance Clause para 1 provides for termination by giving 2 months' notice or 2 months' salary in lieu of notice period. This clause is very specific. There is no requirement to give you 2 months' notice before termination of services, nor do you have any RIGHT to a hearing in any manner. You’re advised not to impute such types of allegations in your letter. Your notice pay will be released with full and final settlement."
Seeking Advice
Can HR send this kind of termination letter without any show cause, domestic enquiry, and opportunity to defend the allegations?
How can I challenge them in Civil Court? What should I do now? Please help me with your expertise advice.
From India, Mumbai
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I am in a situation almost similar to yours. In my case, I resigned first and then gave three months' notice (one month more than required). On the last day, I was called to the corporate office. Instead of receiving the relieving letter, I was handed a charge letter signed by the MD of the company and given by the Head of HR and my functional head. They asked me to sign a copy of it, which I refused to do. I returned the laptop and mobile and asked the Head of HR to acknowledge it, but he did not. I then left the corporate office. The charge letter was sent by registered post by the company. In response, I politely requested the settlement of my accounts with a relieving certificate, etc. Later, I received another letter signed by the Head of HR reiterating the charges, mentioning that the company would take its time to settle my accounts. After a month, I received a legal notice from the company demanding an apology letter and a compensation of Rs 25 lakhs for the loss of business, etc. I approached a high court advocate and replied to all their allegations, claiming that the legal notice was an attempt to withhold my hard-earned dues. I emphasized that refusing to provide the relieving letter is a violation of the Indian Constitution (fundamental right to work) and a universal violation of human rights (mental harassment), etc. I have not received any reply from the company so far (the reply was sent one month ago), and currently, I am involved in consultancy work.
If you feel strongly about being victimized, you can also consider filing a legal case against the company. For this, you will need to consult with a high court advocate or a labor law specialist.
All the best!
Regards,
From India, Mumbai
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3If you feel strongly about being victimized, you can also consider filing a legal case against the company. For this, you will need to consult with a high court advocate or a labor law specialist.
All the best!
Regards,
From India, Mumbai
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Legal Options for Challenging Termination
If you are a manager (by the nature of your work, not merely by position), you can challenge the termination before the High Court. However, this procedure is very time-consuming and expensive.
If you are a workman (irrespective of your designation) under the Industrial Disputes Act, you can approach the labor commissioner and labor court/industrial tribunal. Under this act, your termination seems to be defective prima facie. If you win the case, you will be entitled to claim reinstatement and back wages. The ID Act is a beneficial legislature, and cases are resolved more quickly than in the High Court.
For more info, check my blog at www.labourlawhub.com
Regards,
[username]
From India, Kolkata
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
If you are a manager (by the nature of your work, not merely by position), you can challenge the termination before the High Court. However, this procedure is very time-consuming and expensive.
If you are a workman (irrespective of your designation) under the Industrial Disputes Act, you can approach the labor commissioner and labor court/industrial tribunal. Under this act, your termination seems to be defective prima facie. If you win the case, you will be entitled to claim reinstatement and back wages. The ID Act is a beneficial legislature, and cases are resolved more quickly than in the High Court.
For more info, check my blog at www.labourlawhub.com
Regards,
[username]
From India, Kolkata
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