iGATE Corporation, announced yesterday that its Board of Directors has decided to terminate the employment of President and CEO Phaneesh Murthy. The decision of iGate board comes following a following a complaint of sexual harassment by a subordinate employee. The company announced that Gerhard Watzinger would take over his responsibilities as CEO “on an interim basis.”
This is happening to Phaneesh Murthy for the second time. Earlier in 2003 he had to leave Infosys because of a sexual harassment complaint filed against him by his former executive secretary Reka Maximovitch. She had complained of sexual harassment and wrongful termination of employment. The previous case saw an out of court settlement for $3 million.
In a statement iGATE has not uncovered any violation of iGATE’s harassment policy, however – "The investigation, which is ongoing, has reached the finding that Murthy’s failure to report this relationship violated iGATE’s policy, as well as Murthy’s employment contract.”.
“The Board’s decision was made as a result of an investigation by outside legal counsel, engaged by the Board, of the facts and circumstances surrounding a relationship Mr. Murthy had with a subordinate
employee and a claim of sexual harassment. The investigation, which is ongoing, has reached the finding that Mr. Murthy’s failure to report this relationship violated iGATE’s policy, as well as Mr. Murthy’s
employment contract. The investigation has not uncovered any violation of iGATE’s harassment policy.”
“The Board deliberated extensively on this matter,” said Sunil Wadhwani, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of iGATE. “We recognize the significant contributions Mr. Murthy has provided over the
past ten years in helping to establish iGATE as a leader in the IT industry. He has worked hard to improve the value of iGATE, and we greatly appreciate his efforts. However, as a result of this violation of iGATE
policy, we asked Mr. Murthy to step down.”