Dear all,
A lot is being spoken about the unruly behavior of the Wells Fargo employee, Shankar Mishra, on his air travel from the New York-Delhi flight of Air India. TV news channels have been airing the news continuously. There are debates on the channels on the dereliction of duty by the cabin crew. Delhi Police has issued a lookout notice to the absconding passenger, and DGCA has issued a notice to Air India.
The behavior of the passenger is not just "unruly" but despicable and it is embarrassing to mention, hence I am not mentioning it.
Amidst the public outrage, Wells Fargo sacked Shankar Mishra, who held the position of Vice President of India operations and issued a statement. The portion of the statement reads, "Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behavior and we find these allegations deeply disturbing."
Under the influence of alcohol, people start behaving abnormally or weirdly. However, the behavior of Shankar Mishra surpasses all the limits of egregiousness and is indicative of abnormal behavior even during normal circumstances. Therefore, the question arises, why did Wells Fargo, which claims to hold their employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behavior, not detect his unreasonable behavior in the normal course of the duties?
Is it possible for a person of the stature of VP of India operations to demonstrate savoir-faire in regular work but after consuming alcohol cross the limits of obnoxiousness that puts a nation itself to shame?
Many times eccentric behavior of the persons who hold the higher positions gets condoned. This is because many of them are academically strong and are the products of elite educational institutions. Their strikingly odd behavior is considered part of their personality, and juniors are expected to reconcile to the oddity. Furthermore, there is nobody to give them feedback. The top-most bosses or the board members are too obsessed with growth numbers or business expansion, and they show no concern for the roughshod behavior of the panjandrum.
There is a larger lesson to be learned from the episode. The lesson is applicable to all types of companies whether they are minuscule in size or carry an aura of working in multiple countries. Let us accept that all humans have weaknesses and let the stellar academics or weight of their personality not overshadow their weaknesses. If the company buckles under the prominence of the person, it may have to face an embarrassing situation which Wells Fargo is facing now. Whether to prevent embarrassment or not is their call.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Acknowledge(0)
Amend(0)
8218A lot is being spoken about the unruly behavior of the Wells Fargo employee, Shankar Mishra, on his air travel from the New York-Delhi flight of Air India. TV news channels have been airing the news continuously. There are debates on the channels on the dereliction of duty by the cabin crew. Delhi Police has issued a lookout notice to the absconding passenger, and DGCA has issued a notice to Air India.
The behavior of the passenger is not just "unruly" but despicable and it is embarrassing to mention, hence I am not mentioning it.
Amidst the public outrage, Wells Fargo sacked Shankar Mishra, who held the position of Vice President of India operations and issued a statement. The portion of the statement reads, "Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behavior and we find these allegations deeply disturbing."
Under the influence of alcohol, people start behaving abnormally or weirdly. However, the behavior of Shankar Mishra surpasses all the limits of egregiousness and is indicative of abnormal behavior even during normal circumstances. Therefore, the question arises, why did Wells Fargo, which claims to hold their employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behavior, not detect his unreasonable behavior in the normal course of the duties?
Is it possible for a person of the stature of VP of India operations to demonstrate savoir-faire in regular work but after consuming alcohol cross the limits of obnoxiousness that puts a nation itself to shame?
Many times eccentric behavior of the persons who hold the higher positions gets condoned. This is because many of them are academically strong and are the products of elite educational institutions. Their strikingly odd behavior is considered part of their personality, and juniors are expected to reconcile to the oddity. Furthermore, there is nobody to give them feedback. The top-most bosses or the board members are too obsessed with growth numbers or business expansion, and they show no concern for the roughshod behavior of the panjandrum.
There is a larger lesson to be learned from the episode. The lesson is applicable to all types of companies whether they are minuscule in size or carry an aura of working in multiple countries. Let us accept that all humans have weaknesses and let the stellar academics or weight of their personality not overshadow their weaknesses. If the company buckles under the prominence of the person, it may have to face an embarrassing situation which Wells Fargo is facing now. Whether to prevent embarrassment or not is their call.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
What a shocking case. I see he has now been arrested in Bangalore.
But you are right, people in high positions do seem at times to be able to get away with intolerable behavior with no sanctions from top management other than the literal "slap on the wrist."
We had a case in Australia where a high-ranking financial executive was accused of sexual harassment of a staff member. The company fined the executive and then promoted him!! As I recall, it was said that he was too valuable to the company due to the money he made for the company. He no longer works for the organization.
[https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/17/amp-executive-claims-company-downplayed-her-sexual-harassment-complaint](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/17/amp-executive-claims-company-downplayed-her-sexual-harassment-complaint)
From Australia, Melbourne
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
But you are right, people in high positions do seem at times to be able to get away with intolerable behavior with no sanctions from top management other than the literal "slap on the wrist."
We had a case in Australia where a high-ranking financial executive was accused of sexual harassment of a staff member. The company fined the executive and then promoted him!! As I recall, it was said that he was too valuable to the company due to the money he made for the company. He no longer works for the organization.
[https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/17/amp-executive-claims-company-downplayed-her-sexual-harassment-complaint](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/17/amp-executive-claims-company-downplayed-her-sexual-harassment-complaint)
From Australia, Melbourne
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
It is shocking to read about the incident, more shocking to find a repetition on the Paris - Delhi flight, again with Air India. Why was such a crude attempt made to cover up the incident? Why was it hushed up, and the erring passenger allowed to go scot-free? Shameful indeed.
The recent experience of flying with Air India has not been in line with Tata's reputation. Wells Fargo acted when the incident came out in the open without further delay. Being an MNC, they are bound to answer at many places. It remains to be seen where this would end up.
From India, Mumbai
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
The recent experience of flying with Air India has not been in line with Tata's reputation. Wells Fargo acted when the incident came out in the open without further delay. Being an MNC, they are bound to answer at many places. It remains to be seen where this would end up.
From India, Mumbai
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Professionalism is one thing, and an elite educational institution is another thing. Normally, Business Class passengers show the highest standard of ethics, even on domestic flights, let alone international flights. Here the media reports that he has not slept for more than 20 hours. Firstly, alcohol does not induce comfortable sleep but creates more complications. It seems that even being a Vice President of a reputed company, he doesn't learn how to manage his health.
It so happened to me once. It was an Emirates flight. I happened to see a person who works in the marketing section of a company that supplies goods to us. I saw him at the airport when we were seated to board the flight. He was in his full suit but traveled in economy with me as we were both on vacation and returning to work. I was in my normal dress, and it was a night flight.
After the boarding passes were checked, we were in the Aerobridge queue to board the flight. When we neared the flight, suddenly the airport staff picked his economy boarding pass, exchanged it, and handed him a First-Class Boarding Pass. He too was surprised and asked them why they said, "We changed your seat to First Class."
So, all human behavior counts a lot. Just imagine if the person who changed from Economy to First Class misbehaved, what would have been the situation? This all requires stringent laws that never find a loophole to escape and are dealt with seriously. The victim has to suffer humiliation for the incident but will also face the jokes they make when the culprit roams free on bail and with a casual penalty.
From Saudi Arabia
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
It so happened to me once. It was an Emirates flight. I happened to see a person who works in the marketing section of a company that supplies goods to us. I saw him at the airport when we were seated to board the flight. He was in his full suit but traveled in economy with me as we were both on vacation and returning to work. I was in my normal dress, and it was a night flight.
After the boarding passes were checked, we were in the Aerobridge queue to board the flight. When we neared the flight, suddenly the airport staff picked his economy boarding pass, exchanged it, and handed him a First-Class Boarding Pass. He too was surprised and asked them why they said, "We changed your seat to First Class."
So, all human behavior counts a lot. Just imagine if the person who changed from Economy to First Class misbehaved, what would have been the situation? This all requires stringent laws that never find a loophole to escape and are dealt with seriously. The victim has to suffer humiliation for the incident but will also face the jokes they make when the culprit roams free on bail and with a casual penalty.
From Saudi Arabia
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
"The victim has to suffer humiliation for the incident but will also face the joke they make when the culprit roams free on bail and a casual penalty.
I would imagine - or at least hope - that the victim of this egregious behavior would be well compensated by Air India and also by Wells Fargo. However, I suspect any compensation from Wells Fargo, at least, would require a very stringent NDA and a requirement to never talk about the incident again."
From Australia, Melbourne
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
I would imagine - or at least hope - that the victim of this egregious behavior would be well compensated by Air India and also by Wells Fargo. However, I suspect any compensation from Wells Fargo, at least, would require a very stringent NDA and a requirement to never talk about the incident again."
From Australia, Melbourne
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
The funniest part of the latest situation is that the lady is aged 72 years and the accused is 34, yet there is no case of etc., etc., is argued. Unfortunately, there is no suitable section of law to interpret for this offense. Some time back, there was an adverse judgment, and a whole lot of the public criticized it. The convenient way for lawyers to get out of any section that suits this crime on the victim. But certainly, airlines have a duty of character, and all airlines should vehemently deny his air travel in their carrier.
From Saudi Arabia
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
From Saudi Arabia
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)Engage with peers to discuss and resolve work and business challenges collaboratively. Our AI-powered platform, features real-time fact-checking, peer reviews, and an extensive historical knowledge base. - Register and Log In.
No more working till late hours.doc