Lathika Pai, who used to work as an executive at Microsoft India, has reportedly filed a suit against the company accusing it of unfairly forcing her to resign. Pai has also sought Rs 35.3 crore in damages as it was the hostile work environment that pushed her to put in her papers.
It is Pai’s claim that her dismissal was unjustified and the case was heard by the Delhi High Court on 7 May. However, when the jurisdiction of the court was challenged by Microsoft, the case was referred to a civil court in Bengaluru, with the next hearing scheduled for 9 June.
Pai quit Microsoft in July of 2024 as she had been harassed and was in perpetual fear following an investigation into a startup initiative that she had been involved in. The initiative, called Highway to a 100 Unicorns, was a Microsoft-launched programme that offered help to budding startups (in collaboration with the state government) in small towns across India.
The company, however, was accused of financial anomalies and favouritism towards vendors. This resulted in an investigation being launched internally to look into the matter and Pai’s involvement in the same.
While she was found to be not guilty and even received a promotion in 2021, the matter was probed again in 2024, by a US law firm. This time, Pai was reportedly prevented from accessing important complaint transcripts and was interviewed without the interaction being recorded, overriding company policy. On bringing this policy breach to the notice of the management, Pai was removed from important forums in what was clearly a retaliation by the company.
Pai alleges that Microsoft’s collaborations with state governments were biased. She also accuses Microsoft of ignoring a cyberbullying incident five years ago.
Lathika Pai is a proven leader in the global start-up ecosystem (corporate, angel investing and non-profit arenas) with expertise in the US and MENA, APAC, India/SAARC regions, as per her LinkedIn profile
