iGate's ousted CEO to face court action for sexually harassing employee Araceli Roiz; she says Murthy also told her to leave job after learning of pregnancy
iGate’s American employee Araceli Roiz (31), who accused the company’s former chief executive officer (CEO) Phaneesh Murthy of sexual harassment, yesterday claimed that she was pregnant with his child.
Recurring nightmare: iGate sacked Phaneesh Murthy, on Tuesday, from his role as CEO for not disclosing his affair with Roiz. Pic/AFP
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Three days after the US-based leading IT software firm fired Murthy (49) for his unlawful relationship with Roiz, the company’s investor relations manager, a law firm (Aiman-Smith & Marcy) representing her in the sex lawsuit said it would initiate legal action against the former CEO and the company.
“As a result of Murthy’s influence over Roiz, she continued the relationship with him and ultimately, Roiz became pregnant with Murthy’s child. When he discovered this, Murthy pressured Roiz to have an abortion. When she refused, he told her to leave the company, quietly, to protect his position as CEO,” the law firm said in a statement from Oakland in California.
The law firm, however, clarified that Roiz, who joined the company in May 2010, remains employed on medical leave presently.
The release also said that in his role as Roiz’s supervisor, Murthy had insinuated himself into her personal life using the pretext of business necessity.
“In this way, Murthy was able to induce Roiz into behaviour and action that she would have found unthinkable at the beginning of her employment. The only reason Murthy was able to engage in these abusive and harassing actions is because he was her employer,” the statement said.
As Roiz was dependent on her job with the company for her basic living expenses, the law firm asserted that Murthy conditioned her employment and career advancement opportunities on her entering into a relationship with him, which she did reluctantly.
“When Roiz tried to extricate herself from the relationship, Murthy threatened her employment and pressured her to continue the relationship.
Those are the facts as we expect them to be proved in court. Had Murthy not convened a press conference in which he attempted to make himself look better by lying and slandering Roiz, she would not have endured the embarrassment of making these facts public. However, she has been forced to do so to counter Murthy’s false statements,” the statement asserted.
Referring to the timing of Murthy’s confession to the company’s board that he was in relationship with Roiz, the law firm claimed that when Roiz refused to have an abortion, Murthy attempted to get her to leave the company and keep their relationship a secret.
“It was not until after Roiz refused to do so and informed him that she would be seeking legal representation and her lawyers contacted Murthy’s counsel that he reluctantly informed the board of the relationship, just before the board would have learned on its own from other sources,” the statement clarified.
On Murthy’s charge that Roiz and her attorneys were engaged in extortion, the law firm said the charge was not only defamatory, but also a despicable attempt to blame the victim, who only wanted to continue her career and support her child. u00a0
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