BENGALURU: A former ground staff employee at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), Bengaluru, who previously worked for IndiGo, has taken to social media alleging that the airline’s toxic and dehumanising work culture forced him to quit what he described as his ‘dream job’.
Mohammad Jamshid Y, the former employee, posted on Instagram alleging that he was harassed by an officer after he accidentally forgot to wear his tie to work. He identified the officer as Saptarshi Mukherjee.
“On a scheduled workday, I was assigned to conduct a weekly terminal inspection at Terminal 1 of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. After completing the inspection, I was stopped by the officer who noticed that I was not wearing my tie. I immediately accepted my mistake, apologised, and explained that I had unintentionally forgotten to wear it. I assured him that it would not happen again.
“He then called my supervisor and questioned why I had been allowed into the terminal without a tie. She apologised, and I was instructed to apologise to her, which I did without hesitation,” Jamshid said.
According to the former employee, the incident did not end there. “I was then instructed to touch my supervisor’s feet. I found this deeply humiliating and degrading in a professional workplace, so I respectfully refused.
After I refused, I was told to leave the terminal,” he alleged. Jamshid further claimed that when he returned from his planned leave, the incident had become a topic of discussion among his colleagues, adding to his humiliation.
He said he subsequently approached IndiGo’s ethics and compliance team, but was dissatisfied with the outcome of its investigation. “At the conclusion of the process, I was informed that my presence in Terminal 1 on the date of the incident could not be established through the available CCTV footage.
I respect the investigation process and acknowledge that this was the outcome communicated to me. However, I personally found this conclusion difficult to understand. The Terminal 1 check-in area is covered by extensive CCTV surveillance, and I was surprised that my presence in the terminal on that particular date could not be established through the footage reviewed during the investigation,” he said.
At the time of writing, IndiGo had not publicly responded.