30 November,2011 06:55 AM IST | | Imran Gowhar
A senioru00a0software engineer has been sacked from a leading IT company for raising concerns over the safety of employees at the workplace.
For the the past five years, Sharan Desai, a post-graduate in town planning and computer science, was working in Oracle in Mahadevpura as a solution architect manager. He had allegedly highlighted the violation of the fire safety norms in the building that endangered the life of 1,200 employees.
Representation pic/Thinkstockimage
Desai said, "After the infamous Carlton Tower fire tragedy that took place two years ago, I decided to check the safety norms as mentioned in the company policy, and report the same to the authorities. I anticipated a positive response."
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Desai revealed that the safety measures of the company were clearly being violated, while the building that housed another major IT firm, did not even have the mandatory No objection Certificate (NoC) from the fire department.
The engineer said, "When the company HR started harassing me and threatened to sack me, I decided to seek police help and filed a complaint with the jurisdictional police station in January this year." He said that he was taken aback when the company began levelling allegations of non-performance against him.
"This happened when I decided to take up the issue with the authority and got the fire and emergency services department to conduct an inspection. The department had confirmed the lack of safety measures and informed that the commercial building did not posses the required NoC," Desai added.
While the fire department issued a notice to the company and the building owner, the company terminated Desai's services in April, citing non-performance. Though the company has shifted its base from Mahadevapur to a new building in White Field, other IT and BPO firms still operate without the safety norms.
Desai approached the labour department and also sought intervention from the home department seeking justice. The case is currently with the labour department. "I just want justice as I have not done anything wrong according to the company rules. I just did what I felt was right," he added.
Desai said the company has asked its employees to report any injuries, accidents, or hazards so that they can act promptly and take corrective action. "But raising safety issues proved costly for me.
The company has not only fired me but also refused to give a relieving letter to block my future employment," the engineer said.
The other side
Meanwhile, several emails sent to Oracle did not yield any replies.
