An employee has shared a disturbing account on Reddit, alleging that her team leader “humiliated” her in a WhatsApp group after she applied for sick leave, and later terminated her employment. The employee, who goes by the username “sharmisharmi”, uploaded screenshots of the WhatsApp conversation in Reddit’s “IndianWorkplace” community.
“Team leader humiliated me in a WhatsApp group, mocked my medical document as a ‘Rs 5 paper,’ called me ‘selfish, shameless,’ and even accused me of ‘ghosting’ for missing his call after 12 am. And yes, after all this, he took the initiative to terminate me, and he did it…,” the employee wrote in the title of the Reddit post.
She further said she has still not received an official termination letter. “No update, no call, no explanation. It feels like they simply don’t want to give it. Overall, this has been an absolutely pathetic experience.”
‘Rs 5 medical document’: Boss’s text for employee
“I can’t imagine how shameless & selfish people I have in my team… pathetic,” read the boss’s message in the WhatsApp group.
Several team members asked him what had happened, after which he sent a long explanation criticising the woman’s leave record. He wrote that employees had been taking emergency and planned leaves freely, adjusting week-offs as per their preference, even in consecutive festive weeks.
“Taking emergency leaves, taking planned leaves, even didn’t get deduction for unplanned, every week getting week offs as per their requirement, week offs on 2 consecutive festive weeks as per their choice, even today, while sharing next week’s week offs preference, people were okay,” the boss explained.
He added, “But when normal humans use to sleep, then sharing some 5 rupees medical documents and then going completely…this is not done.”
Employee says she was accused without evidence
“Sharmisharmi” clarified in the comments that she had sent her medical documents at around 11:22 pm and gone to bed. The team leader called her at 12:06 am, and her sister-in-law answered the call because she was asleep.
“He called me at 12:06 am, and since I was already asleep, my sister-in-law answered the call and informed him,” she added.
According to her, she was fired solely because the boss assumed her medical certificate was fake. “Despite this, my state-issued medical document was labelled ‘fake’ without any proof or investigation. I was only absent for three days due to genuine health issues, yet this is how the situation was handled,” she went on to explain.
In yet another message in a WhatsApp group, the boss said, “Those people don’t even bother about the entire team…. where each of the team members is coming to office, compromising festivals… managing their own family.”
‘File a labour case against him’
Reddit users, as expected, flocked to the comments section of the post and shared their thoughts. One person suggested, “If the documents is valid and solid, you can file a labour case against them.”
“Hey just go to HR and discuss with her about the situation and explain the reasons for leaves or day offs you have taken. Be prepared with medical from a certified and registered doc ( least mbbs). Explain her/him/them that due to health issues you are not able to join but now you will work as you are fine. If this person again abuses you and harasses you – complain to the HR with solid proofs ( chats if on message and witness if verbal), they will need solid reason for terminating and if PIP is followed, they will need to explain why not put you in PIP than terminating you if performance is the problem. Also keep looking for other jobs in the meanwhile, your initial response should be to acquire 3-6 months of time before termination if possible so you can find a better job,” read another comment.
A third commented, “This is mostly a BPO or a Tech Support projects where supposed TL’s having few years of experience managing people. Neither they know how to communicate properly neither the person on the other side knows how to set expectations properly.”
“…clear form of harassment and can/should be reported to the HR as against the employee code of conduct,” the comment added.
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