Was It Fair to Terminate an Employee Without Notice for Misbehavior? What Do You Think?

An employee from our company was terminated due to misbehavior with a female colleague. There was no prior notice given to the employee. He was appointed as a full-time permanent system admin. Can anyone tell me if that was the right move from the manager's side?

Please refer to the code of conduct of your company. Misbehaving with a woman can be termed as sexual harassment, which is a misconduct and can lead to termination.

In my opinion, no company has the right to terminate an employee without investigating the matter. There should be a system or a flow diagram in place to conduct departmental inquiries. If the case is severe, then management can suspend the employee temporarily pending the departmental inquiry. Please provide a brief overview of the matter so that we can shed more light on this issue.

Regards,
Ashish

Addressing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Misbehaving towards a female employee constitutes "sexual harassment" in an establishment. If this act is proven, it is a punishable offense. As stated in some comments, even if this act is not included in your Code of Conduct or Certified Standing Orders, no management can support an employee involved in sexual harassment if proven, because this condition is specifically included as per the Supreme Court Decision. As such:

• A show-cause notice should be issued by a person who has the locus standi to issue it, asking for an explanation.

• If the explanation is not satisfactory, a proper domestic inquiry has to be conducted as per the complaint from the woman concerned.

• If the charge is proven, a second show-cause notice should also be served. If the reply from the accused is again found unacceptable to the management, suitable action can be taken against the accused as per the rules permit.

Since the management adopted a procedure that is against the Principles of Natural Justice, this matter has to be referred for conciliation before the appropriate authority immediately.

Regards,
Jagdish.K
Kochi
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

No, any person cannot be terminated without being given prior notice to justify themselves for the cause for which they are alleged. Kindly go through the standing instructions as mentioned in the codes of conduct and work ethics of your company.

Secondly, if proper justification with validations is not found appropriate, then severe action can be taken against you; this can lead a female to lodge an FIR against you and lead you to imprisonment and a fine of up to INR 5 lakhs. If the alleged is not found guilty and a clean chit is given, the alleged can lodge a complaint against her and seek compensation for the same. However, Indian laws are liberal towards women, so beware that your actions should not lead you into trouble.

Regards,
Ankit Bangur
Advisor