Golf Club row: Not dress, but 'maid' assumption behind woman's eviction
14 Aug 2017 6:29 PM GMT
NEW DELHI: A woman from Meghalaya was turfed out of the dining room of The Delhi Golf Club as its staffers "assumed" her to be a domestic help, and not because of her traditional Khasi outfit 'Jainsem', an internal inquiry report has found.
The three-member inquiry committee headed by Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal has submitted its report, nearly two months after the June 25 incident, which drew widespread criticism.
It recommended that the club issue an apology to Tailin Lyngdoh, who was accompanying her employer Nivedita Borthakur Sondhi.
According to the report, the club staffer concerned had not asked Lyngdoh to leave or said anything about her attire, and that the host member herself asked everyone to get up and leave to avoid any further unpleasantness.
The committee said the incident arose on account of the fact that the desk staff "assumed Lyngdoh to be a domestic employee".
Domestic employees "are not allowed in the dining hall as per rules".
"When questioned by the committee, the staff member admitted to having gone to the table and informed the member that domestic employees are not allowed.
According to him, all he said was 'Ma'am maid is not allowed – I'm only telling you the rule'," the report said.
The report states that the exchange was apparently overheard by Sondhi who became agitated and proceeded to walk out of the dining hall while speaking in a loud voice.
According to the committee, it was "inappropriate and insulting for the staff of the club to have directly gone to the table and told the member within audible range of the guest" that domestic employees, as they assumed Lyngdoh to be, were not allowed.
The report viewed Sondhi's behaviour too "inappropriate".
The committee report mentions that despite several attempts, the guest did not depose or record her version.
The report mentions that the staffer concerned had also found the round-neck t-short worn by Sondhi's son was "inappropriate" and it was pointed out to the member.
The committee is of the view that the staffer was merely following the guidelines and rules laid by the club committee.
"However, the appropriate course of action would have been to have discreetly brought the issue to the notice of the member," it said.
The committee suggested that the staff and management should undergo a sensitisation course and noted that "some serious introspection" is needed about the prevailing attitudes within the management and the staff towards domestic employees.
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