As the police prepare to send a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice on a sexual misconduct complaint against a senior airport manager at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), the facility is being accused of trying to victimise and humiliate his accuser.
On June 18th, one day after she made a report to the Guyana Police Force, the woman said she was escorted out of the airport by security officials there. However, to date the woman nor her employer has received any formal letter from the airport indicating that her airport security credentials have been withdrawn.
“Women should not be subjected to victimisation. It’s like you have to go through this twice. You have to go through the emotional and mental battle all over again,” she told Sunday Stabroek in an interview.
Speaking shortly after finalising her statement with the police, the woman said that on June 18th she was escorted from her place of work at the airport by two security officials in full view of airport staff and travelers.
“It was to humiliate me. They could have asked me to come down to the office and deal with it there but they wanted to embarrass me. It was humiliating and shocking,” she said.
She added that while on her way to work that day, she received a call from the head of the airport’s security, who enquired about her whereabouts and asked how long it would take for her to get to the airport.
Two security officials, she said, later visited the store and the head asked her to hand over her security passes, while noting that he was following protocol.
On the day before, frustrated at what she saw as the lax approach of management, including Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Ghir, towards a complaint she had made almost a year earlier against the senior manager, who had allegedly kissed her and tried to prevent her from leaving his office, the woman had filed a report to the police.
In a press release, the management of airport announced on the evening of June 18th that a senior manager had “proceeded on leave to make way for an ongoing police investigation,” while adding that the complainant’s security credentials were also withdrawn. It said the action followed the opening of a police investigation based on the report by the complainant.
“The alleged incident …was previously investigated by airport management. At the time, there was no evidence found for further action to be taken,” the release added.
The airport indicated its commitment to ensuring a “safe working environment for all employees and all persons who work at and use the airport” and added that in light of the recent incident, steps were being taken to strengthen the existing protocols.
Sunday Stabroek was told that all the parties in the matter signed their declarations yesterday and an assurance was given that the file will be sent to the DPP sometime this week.
‘I was shocked’
Sunday Stabroek has also learnt that reports of sexual harassment are not new at the airport and complaints made to management are said to have either been ignored or not adequately dealt with.
In 2012, a number of women reportedly resigned after being forcibly touched and intimidated. This newspaper understands that one of them, who was 17 at the time, lodged a complaint at the Timehri Police Station but nothing came out of the matter. Based on the information gathered by this newspaper, a senior official usually found flimsy reasons to get her into his office and would lock the door once she was inside. She began getting calls from him, which she objected to.
There are also reports that he touched her on the legs and breasts. When she brushed him off, he attempted to entice her by offering to get her a US Visa and pay her airfare, to buy her a vehicle and to make her life better. After the man threatened to fire her if she didn’t give in to his advances, the teen opted to resign.
Meanwhile, the woman who made the complaint against the senior manager recounted to Sunday Stabroek that the incident occurred on July 30th, 2018, when she visited his office to sort out a matter for her employer. Based on the advice she received, she went to the senior manager, who she has known for several years. She noted that while explaining the situation to him, she got a message from home about a death in her family. According to the woman, the man expressed his condolences and proceeded to hug her. Shortly after, she said they began walking towards the door. She said that as she was about to open the door, he pressed his palm against it, preventing her from opening it. He then bent over and quickly kissed her. “At that point I was shocked. I pulled away,” she said.
There were no cameras in the room and his secretary was not at her desk.
The woman related that she tried opening the door a second time but again the senior manager’s hand was there. She said she eventually managed to push him away and ran out.
According to the woman, she vomited several times throughout the day. By the end of the day, she had told her employer, her mother and two senior airport staffers about the incident. According to her, the two staffers informed her that it was not the first informal complaint they had received and that the senior manager had done the same thing to other people.
The following day, she met with Ghir and the Human Resources (HR) manager and she noted that they both apologised to her. Ghir, she said, told her that under his watch such incidents must not take place and therefore her claims would be investigated.
A statement, which was requested by the officials, was submitted to the HR manager later that day.
Two months later, she said the HR manager indicated that there was no new development in the matter and about a month or two later the airport official sent a message to woman via WhatsApp indicating that she was now back from leave and would let her know if there were any new developments.
According to the woman, she never heard anything until June 7th, 2019, when she received a WhatsApp message from the HR Manager, who stated that the matter had been addressed. She said that given that there was no explanation as to how the matter was addressed and fearing that there was a cover up, she decided to make a report to police and publicise what happened. Her security credentials were subsequently withdrawn.
“The endgame was to shut me up. They moved me from the airport but I still have my job and the support from my company,” she stressed, while adding that she is also getting support from airport staff, who are calling for justice and for an end to sexual misconduct at the facility.
The woman appealed to other employees who have been sexually harassed by senior airport officials to come forward.
