Former HSBC India employee Nitika Kumari has exposed a harrowing culture of workplace toxicity and humiliation based on ethnicity. Kumari, a customer due diligence analyst at HSBC, endured insensitive remarks and discrimination from colleagues for over a year, believing that such behavior was the norm in corporate environments. The situation escalated in April when a colleague, Ajmeera Ashok, made ethnically insensitive remarks towards her, threatening to slap her and send her back to Bihar. Kumari informed her manager, Ayeesha Talukdar, about the incident but no action was taken. A subsequent team meeting dismissed the incident as a mere comment that Kumari should ignore. Kumari also filed a POSH (Protection of women from Sexual Harassment Act) complaint against Ashok but received no updates on its progress. Despite the lack of response, Kumari initially chose to remain silent as she was nearing the end of her notice period. However, another incident during a smoke break compelled her to speak out. Vinay Kumar Rajuldev, from the UK CDD team, approached Kumari and objectified her appearance, claiming that he had never seen a girl like her and that she was tarnishing the team’s reputation. Kumari’s courageous LinkedIn post has garnered immense support and sparked discussions about the prevalence of workplace toxicity and discrimination in corporate India.
