Lathika Pai, a veteran executive in the Indian startup ecosystem, has filed a lawsuit against her former employer Microsoft India. The civil suit seeks that the tech giant pay approximately Rs 35 crore in damages for allegedly coercing Pai to resign by intimidating her and creating a hostile work environment. The lawsuit names Microsoft India president Puneet Chandok and human resources head Arum Kakatkar as defendants.
In September last year, a group of senior women executives at Microsoft India sought a meeting with the country head, Puneet Chandok, and the HR head, Rikatkar. The matter was far from routine. They were concerned about the treatment of women executives under the current leadership of the tech giant’s India arm. The trigger was the recent exit of a senior woman executive in the leadership team. Those seeking the meeting were of the view that the executive had been unfairly forced out of her job and that Chandok and Rikatkar had not stood up for her.
