An Indian man working in the United States has claimed he was asked to stop speaking in meetings as his accent is hard to understand. In a post shared on Reddit, the man voiced his disappointment with the workplace discrimination he experienced.
Asked to stop speaking in meetings
In his Reddit post, the man identified himself as a 32-year-old who is living and working in the US. Originally from India, he is currently part of a team where everyone else is American.
“Today, during a meeting, I asked a team member (about 55 years old) for a project update as part of my regular responsibilities. He told me to stop speaking in meetings because he couldn’t understand my accent,” the Indian employee revealed on Reddit.
He added that his request to the team member was a simple and straightforward one. “My original request was simply for a progress update and accompanying pictures. Perhaps my question caught him off guard, given my position as a contractor and my relative age,” the employee wrote.
Feeling insulted
The man said that this experience left him feeling dismissed and insulted. “I felt dismissed and insulted,” he said.
“I’ve always made an effort to communicate clearly and professionally. No one else has said anything like this before I have being with the same client for over a year now,” he wrote on Reddit, asking if other people in similar positions have experienced something like this.
In the comments section, he also said that his manager told him not to interact directly with that particular team member going forward. Instead, all communication should be routed through the manager.
Accent to blame?
His post has sparked a lively discussion on Reddit about different accents and workplace etiquette. Some people advised the employee to give his team member the benefit of doubt, as sometimes it can be truly hard to understand a particular accent.