Banking giant Wells Fargo has terminated high-ranking executive Shankar Mishra after reports alleging he urinated on a woman sitting next to him on an Air India flight.
Deutsche Welle English (DW) reported that Mishra was based at the bank’s corporate office in Mumbai. While on a Nov. 26 flight between New York and New Delhi, he allegedly got so drunk he urinated on the person sitting next to him in first class, a 72-year-old woman.
DW quoted from a Wells Fargo statement about the firing. The company said it “holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behavior, and we find these allegations deeply disturbing.”
Even if Mishra’s actions were arrestable offenses, DW reported New Delhi police said he was “at large.” So — he wasn’t taken into custody after he allegedly urinated on the woman, then after sobering up, cried and begged the victim not to make a complaint.
She had reportedly requested Mishra’s arrest by airport police but said he was instead placed opposite her after the incident in a seat on the plane. Ultimately, she found herself unable to pursue further legal action after he appeared highly remorseful for what he did.
DW reported that India’s aviation enforcement body was critical of how Air India handled the incident, stating its conduct was apparently “unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.”
Mishra’s legal reps went so far as to provide proof that Mishra had compensated the victim by paying for cleaning her clothing and luggage, presenting “WhatsApp messages between the accused and the lady” that “clearly show that the accused had got the clothes and bags cleaned.”
