- Web Desk
- 2 Hours ago
Former VC PIDE penalised for violating workplace harassment laws
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- Web Desk
- 2 Hours ago
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH) has fined Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE)’s former Vice-Chancellor (VC) Rs 500,000 for violating workplace harassment laws.
According to the press statement issued by FOSPAH, Ms Fauzia Viqar, has issued a verdict against Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque after finding him guilty of gender discrimination.
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Staff Economist Unbreen Qayyum had filed a formal complaint against the then VC Dr Haq alleging abuse of authority, creation of a hostile work environment, and defamation through internal communications and social media, according to the FOSPAH spokesperson.
According to the spokesperson, during the pendency of the case, Dr Haq made dismissive remarks on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that working women are exploiting the harassment law to avoid their duties.
The ombudsperson ruled that these comments “trivialised harassment, reflected a discriminatory and misogynistic mindset, and caused further distress to the complainant.”.
After formal investigations, it was concluded that Dr Haque’s actions constituted a violation of workplace harassment laws, and consequently, a financial penalty has been imposed on him.
Speaking to Hum English, Dr Haque said that the courts in Pakistan do not even know what harassment constituted: “FOSPAH has ruled asking a woman to work and observe office discipline as harassment…she was asked to work and instead she wanted to get promoted.”
Dr Haque also added that he did not meet or speak to Qayyum, and reiterated that this was done to create a racket: “There is going to be an appeal against the verdict as it is not exactly on what the case was about. Thankfully, they have accepted that no harassment has been made, but have charged me on some of my tweets in which l am expressing my frustration on using courts to shun work. There are no names mentioned in any of the tweets, and it was a general frustration on how courts are used for totally unrelated issues.”