Employer overreach

 A professor forced to quit over her swimsuit-clad social media pictures kindles a debate over interference of employers into workers’ private lives

- SHUTAPA PAUL

I love my alma mater; I really do. One might even say that I consider it as the true starting point of my life and career. I respect the motto ‘Nihil Ultra’; the Latin phrase meaning ‘Nothing Beyond’ that has propelled my life as it meandered through its various milestones taking both the ups and downs as par for the course. There is a sense of pride at belonging to an alumnus that boasts of some of the best minds of India and a community of high achievers from various spheres. I always remember St. Xavier’s College, and now autonomous University, with fondness. But this week has been an embarrassment to most Xaverians; a row created over a matter that should have been nipped in the bud. An assistant professor was allegedly coerced to resign for posting swimsuit pictures on her private Instagram, and then slapped with a lawsuit by the university that has sought Rs 99 crores in damages. The matter that has been brewing since October last year has only since been brought to light after the professor sent a legal notice to the university in March seeking her reinstatement and apology.