The proprietor of Heyfash Football Foundation, Amos Ajani Fasanya, has slammed a N100m suit against an Indian national, Pawan Kapur, of Tincan Island Container Terminal Limited (TICT), over racial abuse, injustice, dehumanization and workplace harassment and wrongful termination of his appointment.
Fasanya, an employee of TICT before the unceremonious termination of his appointment in December 2021, in a statement of claim before the National Industrial Court, Lagos, obtained by our correspondent accused Kapur of calling him “ black monkey “ and ridiculing him and disparaging him because of the colour of his skin, without any form of provocation.
Fasanya was employed as the Invoice Manager of TICT after the concessionaire ordered by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo while Mr Kapur came in as the Commercial manager of the same company.
According to him, ‘sometime in 2018, a customer of TICT, one Mr.Sunday Audu, approached me in my office to pick up an invoice in respect of a shipment- an artificial football pitch. Audu, who is as an ex-international footballer, requested for discount on the shipment, which I offered to oblige him, subject to management’s approval.
“Since Mr Kapur was required to give his consent before such discount could be granted, I then proceeded to see him with the customer, (Sunday Audu). But as soon as we stepped into his office, he (Kapur) started shouting, “you black man, you black monkey”, torrents of insult which were unwarranted.
Further, Fasanya claimed that ever since he has been traumatized, and always feel dehumanized at work and noted that Mr Kapur has neither apologized nor shown any remorse for his verbal assault.
Fasanya asked to the court to declare Mr Kapur’s action workplace harassment and racial discrimination, which he said was contrary to extant Nigeria’s laws and even against international human rights’ best practices. He therefore sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant against further intimidation, harassment and racial discrimination. He equally asked the court for an order mandating the defendant to undergo training on prevention workplace harassment.
He asked the court to compel Mr Kapur to pay him N100m compensation for his injured reputation due to the workplace harassment and racial discrimination he was subjected to by the defendant.
Collaborating Fasanya’s clams, Sunday Audu told our correspondent that ‘it’ s a big embarrassment and total humiliation for a foreign national to subject a Nigerian to a racial abuse in his own country.
“Right in my presence he was calling him unprintable names without any provocation . Such acts should not be condone and must be condemned by well meaning individuals for a safer world “ he said.
