Several former employees of digital news platform Newslaundry have come forward with allegations about workplace safety and the handling of harassment complaints.
One former producer, who writes on X under the name Bhadra Mahapatra, alleged that she was regularly required to work late and travel home alone after midnight in private cabs. She said that during her first month at the organisation, she was asked to cover the JNU presidential elections and stayed at the venue until 11 pm. She left post informing her colleagues because she had to travel to Noida. However, she said her manager reprimanded her the following day for leaving without permission!
Mahapatra alleged that instead of being asked whether she had reached home safely, she was told that she could not leave an assignment without permission. She said she subsequently worked alone at the office on several occasions and had to use private cabs to return home after midnight.
She eventually decided not to stay at the office beyond 10 pm, but alleged that this led to comments and taunts from colleagues and made her feel isolated. She described the workplace as an “all-boys club” where women were treated as token representation.
Another former employee, who uses the name Priya on X, also alleged that she did not feel safe at the organisation and raised concerns about the handling of her complaint by its Internal Complaints Committee.
According to Priya, she was not properly informed about who participated in her ICC hearing or what action was taken following her complaint. She also alleged that, despite finding the ICC process traumatic, she was subsequently discouraged from approaching the committee.
The allegations have brought Newslaundry’s workplace culture and POSH compliance under scrutiny. The Delhi Commission for Women has taken cognisance of allegations made by former employees regarding the handling of sexual harassment complaints and the functioning of the organisation’s POSH mechanism.
Newslaundry has said that it acted on four sexual harassment complaints since 2017. However, a former employee disputed this claim, saying records available to them showed that the organisation had received no sexual harassment complaints during that period.
The allegations and competing claims have put the focus on how organisations implement workplace safety measures and internal grievance mechanisms, particularly when employees raise concerns about late working hours, safety and sexual harassment.
