A Sikh man has sued his former employer in London for over 50,000 pounds for allegedly hurting his religious belief verbally, physically abusing him and sexually harassing him.
Harminder Dhanota, 42, claimed at the Central London Employment Tribunal Monday that he was verbally and physically abused by colleagues at the London office of Saudi Arabian bank Samba Financial Services and his workmates would dislodge his turban, the Daily Mail reported.
Dhanota told the tribunal that his boss Jack Tanna also insulted his religion by showing him porn on a mobile phone.
His boss allegedly boasted about organising prostitutes for his Arab business associates.
Dhanota, a father of three children, said that Tanna also asked him whether he was shagging female colleagues.
He alleged that his boss would punch his arm, twist his fingers and whack him on the hand with a ruler.
He claimed that after he started complaining, he was axed from his 37,500 pounds-a-year job in October last year on grounds of poor performance.
He had joined the bank in July 2011. Prior to this job, he worked with a company in its information technology (IT) department.
Dhanota told the tribunal he was seeking 56,825 pounds for loss of earnings and injury to feelings.
I have always taken pride in my religion and culture and find it upsetting and distressing when people mock, ridicule or disrespect my personal beliefs, Dhanota, a Briton of Indian origin, was quoted as saying. Dhanota said that in January 2012, he reported Tanna's abuse to the company's human resource department confidentially. He alleged that his objections only spurred Tanna on to humiliate him further in front of colleagues.
{{/usCountry}}I have always taken pride in my religion and culture and find it upsetting and distressing when people mock, ridicule or disrespect my personal beliefs, Dhanota, a Briton of Indian origin, was quoted as saying. Dhanota said that in January 2012, he reported Tanna's abuse to the company's human resource department confidentially. He alleged that his objections only spurred Tanna on to humiliate him further in front of colleagues.
{{/usCountry}}At times, the physical assaults would be so aggressive as to cause my turban to loosen, which was the cause of significant distress to me, he said.
It is both shocking and ironic that such an ethnically diverse bank appears to condone such outrageous acts of bullying, harassment and discrimination, Dhanota's solicitor Jay Joshi said. Samba Financial Services, however, has denied all of Dhanota's claims.