A senior manager at financial services giant Santam has been placed on suspension after he allegedly made after-hours calls soliciting “adult entertainment” from a recruiter who was head-hunting him.
Soomeshan Pather, head of finance of Claims & Salvage in the Commercial and Personal Insurance division*, was outed on social media last weekend – by Yoni Titi, a recruitment specialist and director of Yoni Titi Human Capital – unearthed similar allegations as well as disciplinary action against Pather.
On Friday Pather defended himself against the allegations‚ saying an internal disciplinary hearing last November had found him not guilty on all charges‚ except for one of conduct unbecoming of a manager.
“I deny that people are saying these things about me and it is clear that she [the former PA] had an ill motive in making these accusations which were fully ventilated at the hearing, the result of which thwarted her malicious conduct,” he said through his attorney, Kirshen Naidoo of Kirshen Naidoo and Company.
In July 2020, Pather informed TimesLIVE that the allegations against him by Thato Xaba were rejected following a disciplinary hearing in May and June 2018.
“The investigation into our client’s conduct found that there was no substance to the allegations and our client was found not guilty of sexual harassment,” Pather’s attorney wrote.
Extracts from a document presented to TimesLive show that Pather “freely and voluntarily” resigned from Santam in August 2018. He also received a severance package.
*This article has been updated to reflect that Pather informed TimesLIVE in July 2020 that he was subsequently found not guilty of sexual harassment.
For more on this story‚ please visit Times Select.
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