An HSBC bank employee’s recent LinkedIn post about dealing with a toxic workplace has sparked debate. Nitika Kumari, who has worked in the bank for over a year, revealed that she is working in the company on a notice period. In her lengthy message, Ms. Kumari mentioned that she has been associated with the HSBC Hyderabad branch for over a year and has dealt with several panic attacks and mental health issues.

Sharing details of the recent incident, Ms Kumari wrote: ‘The incident took place on April 22, 2024, when my colleague made some ethnically insensitive remarks to me.’

He said: “The exact words he used are ‘EK CHAMAAT MAARENGE, BIHAR PAHUCH JAOGI’ which means exactly – I will beat you so hard that you will go back to Bihar.

Ms. Kumari said she followed protocol and told her supervisor about the whole incident but ‘nothing came of it.’ There was a team meeting where she was told that he had not been physically abused by a colleague. ‘It was just a hateful comment that I can let go,’ she wrote

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Ms. Kumari contacted the HR team and lodged a POSH complaint. ‘After the incident for weeks, I received an email from the HR team on May 3 asking for comments on the same issue without knowing what action was taken.’

Sharing another incident, Mrs. Kumari revealed that a colleague made sharp remarks to her. “His comment was ‘Tmhare jaisi ladki hum aaj tk ni dekhe hai, akele pura UK team ka naam kharab kr k rkhi hai.’ meaning – He never saw a girl like me, I ruined the name of their team reason to say such. things to him he replied ‘tmhare alawa kisi UK team ki ladki ko hm ni dkhe cigarette pite’ meaning – he never saw any girl from UK team smoking Later when I came back to the office I saw her smoking and spitting on the wall office, ” he wrote to him on LinkedIn

The post received a lot of attention, with many sympathizing with the employee, offering reassuring words, and encouraging them to find a better job.

One user wrote: ‘Girl you have guts and brains. Not everyone has that. Years ago when I was working at Tech Mahindra Noida, TL commented to one of our colleagues – ye logi to aise Kam krtin hain jaise anganwadi mein kr rahi hon why did he come on time and leave on time? Unlike the so-called boss, he barely took chai and sutta breaks and completed the assigned tasks….while not spending extra time on the sidelines, TL commented. Sick!’

Another user commented: ‘Good for standing up for yourself. HR arrogantly swept your concerns about toxicity under the rug for no one to see. Downplaying your experience allows HSBC to move on. The only winners are HR and senior management. Toxicity grows whenever these. people work there, the bullies get away with their scare tactics. It is not your fault that HSBC failed due to such abhorrent behavior. Unfortunately, your expectations need to be adjusted for the true outcome of this situation. However, your behavior should not be depressing in any way. Stay strong, honest, and brave.’

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