Barclays appeals India's decision that it "retaliated" against a whistleblower

 Barclays appeals India's decision that it "retaliated" against a whistleblower

The situation involves a former senior IT manager who expressed dissatisfaction with how a data loss was handled.

According to court documents, Barclays is attempting to appeal an Indian court's finding that the British bank has retaliated against a whistleblower.

A former senior IT manager voiced concerns about the handling of a data loss in this situation.

A district court in Pune stated in a March 28 verdict that Barclays' whistleblower policy "appears to be in existence only on paper" in a judgment that was posted online and viewed by Reuters.

The Pune court ruled that Atul Gupta was fired by Barclays' Indian service company "in retaliation to his whistleblowing act," and ordered the bank to pay him two years' salary, or roughly Rs 96,00,000 ($115,620).

According to court documents, a hearing for Barclays' appeal to the Bombay High Court is scheduled for October 20. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the bank is attempting to have the award thrown out.

"Barclays is clearly driven to having a culture where colleagues feel comfortable speaking up when something wasn't right and no staff member is excluded from having been able to raise a concern — by contract or otherwise," a bank representative said.

"We take the protection of whistleblowers very seriously and have zero tolerance for whistleblower retaliation," the representative further stated. Regarding the specifics of the Indian case, they chose not to comment.

After former CEO Jes Staley attempted to identify a whistleblower who had written letters criticizing a bank employee in 2017, Barclays has received additional fines and regulatory punishment for failing to protect people who raise red flags.