Sexual Harassment – Air India

By Shubham Jajodia, Surbhi Goel, Sebastian and Shubham Mohanty (PGDRM July’19-20 and Jan’20-21)

AIR INDIA​

Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise, and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 94 domestic and international destinations. The airline has its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, alongside several focus cities across India. Air India is the largest international carrier out of India with an 18.6% market share. Over 60 international destinations are served by Air India across four continents. 

SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE STUDY : AIR INDIA​

• A woman Air India pilot has allegedly accused a senior captain of harassment. The woman pilot was being trained under the captain.​
•  According to the Times of India, the woman in her complaint said, “The instructor reportedly suggested the two to have dinner at a city restaurant in Hyderabad on May 5 2019 after the training session and while having dinner, the instructor sexually propositioned the trainee.​
•  The instructor was suspended after found guilty by an internal committee of the airline but has been reinstated as an instructor after he appealed to the internal committee.​

AIR INDIA: SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINTS ON THE RISE​
​

During 2018, 10 complaints of sexual harassment have been filed at Air India. Between January 1 and July 1 of 2019, eight complaints of sexual harassment have been received.​

WHY?​

• Negligent Management​
• Glass Ceiling ​
• Gender Inequality​
• Power Abuse​
• Lack of efficient training programs​
• Higher Reporting (Rise in cases in 2019)​

PROACTIVE STRATEGIES​

• Build a safe & responsible work environment​
• Culture of gender equality and mutual respect- Tone at the top​
• Effective training and awareness: Company policies, redress mechanisms and bystander intervention​
• 24*7 Hotline to report​
• Comprehensive employee background checks & psychometric tests (While hiring, promoting and periodically)​
• Feedback mechanism: Anonymous surveys ​
• More women at leadership/ management roles​
• Supportive Supervisors: Supervisor’s appraisal shall include team’s anonymous feedback ​
• Passenger Policies ​
• Comprehensive exit interviews ​

CORRECTIVE STRATEGIES​

• Quick Investigation by the Internal Complaints Committee- to be notified within 24 hours​
• Support the victim in filing a FIR and legal proceedings​
• Fair chance to both the parties​
• Instant help where possible (eg., replacing the crew or de-boarding passengers, etc)​
• Zero Tolerance Policy: Firing the employee, if proven guilty​
• Track and document all the reports and complaints- Every complaint is important​
• Ensure No- Retaliation: Maintaining anonymity, tracking performance and anonymous feedback​
• Sensitize the case anonymously within the organization​

STAKEHOLDER MAPPING​

ETHICAL COMPANY​

• Accenture plc, stylised as Accenture, is an Irish-domiciled multinational service company to serve the technology,consulting,outsourcing needs of business across the industrial spectrum. ​
• It is a fortune Global 500 company, has been incorporated in Dublin, Ireland.​
• Office and operations in more than 200 cities in 53 countries.​ 
• Approximately 204,000 employees(including approximately 4500 senior executives)​
• Revenue-US$43.20 billion​
• Operating income-US$6.31 billion​
• Net income- US$4.78 billion​
• Total Assets- US$29.79 billion​

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Recognized among FORTUNE’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 18 consecutive years; ranked No. 1 in IT Services category for seven years.​
• Included on Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and FTSE4Good Global Index for 15 consecutive years.​
• Included for the third consecutive year on CDP’s Supplier Engagement Leaderboard, recognizing companies that are reducing emissions and lowering climate-related risks within their supply chains.​
• Recognized among Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies, marking 13 consecutive years .​
• Recognized on DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity, marking 13 consecutive years and eight years in the Top 15 .​
• Received a perfect score on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index each year since 2008.​
• Included on the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the third consecutive year .​
• Ranked No. 41 on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, and highest rank in 12 consecutive years of inclusion.​
• Ranked No. 23 on CR Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, marking 11 consecutive years.​
• Ranked No. 17 on the Wall Street Journal Management Top 250, marking three consecutive year.​

POLICIES​

Disrespectful behaviour or harassment of any kind are not tolerated by Accenture. It does not always matter whether the disrespectful behavior or harassment is intentional—what does matter is how the behavior is received by the impacted individual. If it is reasonably perceived as disrespectful, it is prohibited by Accenture. Disrespectful behavior and harassment take many forms. They consist of behaviors that interfere with work performance, or any other treatment of a person that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.​

DISRESPECTFUL BEHAVIOR AND HARASSMENT CAN OCCUR IN MANY CONTEXTS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO​

• Something someone says or does (or does not say or do), whether in person or remotely ​
•  An email, letter or document ​
•  A posting on the internet or intranet (for example, on Facebook or Twitter or on a blog) ​
•  A message sent by instant messenger applications (for example, on Skype, Microsoft Teams or WhatsApp) ​
•  A physical gesture.​

SEXUAL HARASSMENT INVOLVES UNWANTED CONDUCT OF A SEXUAL NATURE AND INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, THE EXAMPLES ABOVE OR​

• Sending, taking or displaying sexually suggestive, lewd and/or indecent pictures or other materials​
• Sexually suggestive, lewd or indecent comments or jokes (directed at a particular person or made more generally) ​
• Repeated unwelcome requests for meeting up socially ​
• Unwanted displays of affection ​
• Repeated unwanted attention, such as phone calls, texts or messages to an individual without a work-related reason for the contact
•  Unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature ​
•  When a person in a position of power makes unwanted sexual advances or implies that employment decisions may be affected by acceptance or rejection of sexual advances.​
• Unwanted physical contact​
• Displays of offensive material or offensive jokes​

CAN WE UPROOT SEXUAL MISCONDUCT FROM WORKPLACE?​

Five key considerations can help companies address the deep-seeded underpinnings of sexual harassment: (By David Gane– Senior Manager Risk and Compliance, Finance & Risk Practice, Accenture)​

• Designing thoughtful policy– Robust sexual harassment and conduct policies are often an expression of the tone at the top, and will send a clear message that can create trust in leadership. To be compliant with applicable federal regulation, companies should run the extra mile by refraining from using legal or technical jargon, affirming their convictions with strong statements, and defining clear rules and concrete examples of not tolerated behaviors that can be easily understood and applied by employees at all levels.​
• Establishing meaningful and impactful initiatives– Whatever a company’s current situation, any initiative should be strategically prepared, not only to ensure alignment of corporate policies with rules, laws and regulations, but also to transform the company culture, now and in the long term.​
• Ensuring cultural alignment– Organizations should align their initiatives with their overall mission, core values and business goals. At the same time, they may want to assess employee sentiment by performing focus groups, that can not only collect meaningful feedback but also create dialog that can unify employees in conceptualizing and helping to build their vision of a workplace free of harassment.​
• Monitoring initiatives impact– Monitoring initiatives helps in preventing and detecting harassment.​
• Leveraging innovation– New learning approaches and innovative technology detecting suspect behaviour detection.​

ACCENTURE ENSURE A WORKPLACE FREE OF DISRESPECTFUL BEHAVIOUR OR HARASSMENT​

Harassment on the basis of a person’s characteristics—known as protected characteristics—is illegal in many jurisdictions. Disrespectful behavior is also potentially illegal or legally actionable in many jurisdictions. Accenture’s ethical values go beyond what the law requires. They want a workplace that is free from any form of disrespectful behavior or harassment, whether it is covered by law or not.​

Get the full case study here: Sexual Harassment case study on Air India

Disclaimer

This report has been produced by students of Global Risk Management Institute for their own research, classroom discussions and general information purposes only. While care has been taken in gathering the data and preparing the report, the student’s or GRMI does not make any representations or warranties as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly excludes to the maximum extent permitted by law all those that might otherwise be implied. References to the information collected have been given where necessary.

GRMI or it’s students accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage of any nature occasioned to any person as a result of acting or refraining from acting as a result of, or in reliance on, any statement, fact, figure or expression of opinion or belief contained in this report. This report does not constitute advice of any kind.

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