NRI

Tax Consultant Priti Dhulia Accuses UK Law Firm of Harassment

Priti Dhulia claims that working at Clifford Chance has left her shattered.

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British Indian tax consultant Priti Dhulia is suing Clifford Chance, one of the biggest law firms in the United Kingdom, demanding a compensation of £1,50,000. Dhulia, 54, has accused the company of bullying and harassing her by imposing excessive workload on her.

Allegations from Dulia

Dhulia also alleged that her colleagues isolated her for making telephone calls in Gujarati rather than in English, and added that the law firm has left her shattered, The Sunday Telegraph reported. Dhulia claimed that the managers in the Magic Circle company harassed her by repeatedly loading her with excessive work.

“It’s been a nightmare. They were out to get her. She was devoted to her work. She would be working at home until 2 am sometimes,” Dulia’s husband Viren told the publication.

Dulia, who worked with Clifford Chance from September 1995 to September 2014, says she suffered from adjustment disorder, fell into depression, and was compelled to take a year off from work due to the harassment from her managers. Her main job as a tax consultant was to prepare its partners’ Inland Revenue returns.

According to the legal complaint, Dhulia was forced to work for more than her contracted 35 hours per week and was regularly asked to work from home on evenings and weekends. She claims that she was assigned to process half of Clifford Chance’s tax returns as compared to the 33 and 17 per cent allocated to her two other colleagues.

Despite working for these many hours, Philip Courtney, her head of department, used to criticize her for work rate and complain that she is taking too much time to complete the work.

Dhulia says she complained to her human resource department, but nothing was done to help her.

The attitude of her colleagues became worse when they noticed Dhulia making phone calls in Gujarati.

“It was ridiculous. My wife was speaking in Gujarati to her sister who was ill and had to have an emergency procedure. It was an urgent matter. Other people would make personal calls, but because they were in English nobody cared,” Dhulia’s husband was quoted as saying.

Clifford Chance denied the claims made by Dhulia and her husband. “We disagree with the version of events presented in this case, however it would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing,” a spokesperson to the law firm stated.

Following the experience at the workplace, Dhulia resigned from the company in September 2014. After one year, she took up a job as a tax consultant with a real estate agent but on a salary that is 30 per cent less than before. The complaint added that Dhulia is under anti-depressant medications now.

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