In 2014, as a lawyer with two decades of experience, Nancy Saltzman attended ExlService Holdings as principal. At that time, she was the most senior female manager of the publicly traded consulting firm, whose management team was dominated by men.
But instead of authorizing Saltzman, the administration at Exl gave the men they got to shoot her after she filed a discrimination complaint, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. It’s called the company, CEO Rohit Kapoor and several other managers.
According to the complaint, Kapoor took action to exclude her from career and progress, exposing her to increased scrutiny and micromanaged her “in a way that her male equality was not.
The lack of diversity among Exl leadership was” startling “, According to Russell Kornblith, who represents Saltzman in a suit, it was manifested as a management team that was “staggering tone deaf” and it provided “strong examples of gender stereotypes” in the workplace.
Exl lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. [19659002] For some Exl employees the afternoon of May 21, 2018 was a party – it was the company’s 19th anniversary.For Saltzman it was a breakpoint.
Of the over 20 employees, four were women. The complaint said that Kapoor “personally directed Mr Saltzman “, as one of the” ladies “in the room,” serving cake to the company’s younger male employees.”
“Humiliated, Mrs Saltzman the winged go over space to cut and plate slices for the company’s male employees, “court documents tell,” the vast majority were subordinate to her in rank. ”
Soon after a meeting where Kapoor accused Saltzman of being” very emotional “- A criticism that she was” based on sexist stereotypes “- Saltzman reported gender discrimination to two bosses, asking the company to devise a plan to remedy the situation “Promoting retaliation from Kapoor, she also explicitly asked her to know if he was informed of the claim. Saltzman planned to take protective measures.” Instead, the board authorized Kapoor to terminate his employment, as he did. he took Saltzman’s complaint as a resignation. The trial quotes an email from Saltzman to the chairman of the board, who begins “To be clear, I have not and not resigned.”
“Nancy Saltzman did everything right,” Kornblith told The Washington Post. “She became a person many women in the company looked up to. Then they laid wolfs responsible for the hen house. ”
Saltzman told Posten in a statement that she” was motivated by the number of young women who reached out for me for mentoring and saw my appointment as a symbol of the opportunity. ”
“Significant changes are due to women who are willing to speak up and corporate boards that will listen and take them seriously, Saltzman says. “Business leaders should focus on promoting diversity, not silencing those who complain about discrimination.”
It wasn’t just about her serving cake to the men, according to the trial.
When all members flew abroad for an “important annual customer event”, Kapoor allegedly refuse Saltzman’s travel request and accused her of “not having enough interaction with customers.”
Kapoor transferred a versatility initiative from Saltzman, which was the first and only woman to serve in the company’s executive committee, according to the lawsuit. He also denied his request to jointly assign the event and installed the company’s vice president, who “proposed the distribution of men’s dresses as a diversity perspective”.
After leaving Monday, Kornblith said other women had contacted him and his client, revealing that they had similar experiences with the people mentioned in the complaint.