Singapore-based fashion technology startup Zilingo co-founder Dhruv Kapoor has told company employees that the firm has no tolerance for any form of harassment and that the actions of some people were hurting its reputation.
He said it was troubling to see some people act against the interest of the company and due process is always followed in action taken to deal with workplace issues.
Singapore-based fashion technology startup Zilingo co-founder Dhruv Kapoor has told company employees that the firm has no tolerance for any form of harassment and that the actions of some people were hurting its reputation.
He said it was troubling to see some people act against the interest of the company and due process is always followed in action taken to deal with workplace issues.
It was sad to hear allegations that harassment complaints were suppressed, he said.
The letter to employees came within days of Zilingo issuing a public statement to state that suspended India-origin co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose had made certain harassment-related allegations only after she was suspended in March and no past and present investor nominees on the board were made aware of the harassment claims prior to that.
"Unfortunately, over the last few days, there have been some things said in the media that don't reflect either the kind of company that we have wanted to build or the kind of culture that I've seen around me in my time here," Kapoor wrote.
Reading this feels disheartening and all of this feels counterproductive to the company's goals, its employees, and its customers.
"We are troubled to see some people in the team act against the interests of the company, sometimes in a way that hurts Zilingo's reputation or the reputation of various people in the organization," he said without naming anyone. His email did not talk of allegations against Bose.
While the last few weeks have seen Zilingo's business & products continue their forward progress, there has been a fair amount of talk in the press amidst the suspension of the CEO for an ongoing investigation, he said adding he wanted to address some of what's been written.
"You may have heard that there is an allegation made that certain individuals at Zilingo 'suppressed' complaints of harassment. We have always had a culture that does not tolerate sexual harassment, workplace harassment, bullying, or intimidation, and it's been deeply saddening to hear things that are so contrary to the kind of culture we have built," he wrote.
In rare cases when workplace issues were reported, the firm has always followed due process and taken strict action.
"There have even been cases where some of us (including me) have received threats from people after we took strict action (such as dismissal) on a workplace issue, but at the end of the day good work culture and a safe work environment for everyone is of paramount importance," he said.
Zilingo - an online fashion company that supplies technology to apparel merchants and factories -- was founded in 2015, by Ankiti Bose and chief technology officer Dhruv Kapoor.
Bose was suspended over alleged discrepancies in the company's accounts. Bose has lawyered up and disputed allegations of wrongdoing.
Zilingo, which counts Singaporean state holding company Temasek and Sequoia Capital among its investors, had previously stated that its shareholders and board members received the information of discrepancies that needed investigation, after which major investors were authorized to suspend Bose.
"What matters a whole lot for us is creating a work atmosphere that enables people to grow in their careers and helps us deliver our mission of bringing cutting-edge technology and services to the fashion & lifestyle industries," Kapoor wrote.
Over the years, numerous people - women as well as men - have joined Zilingo at a junior level and have grown with the company into positions of leadership. "And while statistics rarely ever tell a full story, it's nevertheless true that Zilingo not only has a nearly even gender ratio but also has a number of women in leadership roles."
He hoped that things would return to normal soon and that there are good things to look forward to in terms of the work the firm is doing.
"Finally, if you feel that we can do more, whether to combat harassment or make it easier to report sexual harassment or to explain official mechanisms of redressal for workplace issues, please write" to the company executives, he said.
He further noted that "no matter what the media has said over the last few days, I hope that you have personally found Zilingo's work culture to be positive and supportive in your time here. And if not, we'll always welcome your feedback, whether on our culture or anything else, so that we can see what we can do to make Zilingo an even better place."