DUBAI // A human resources manager was today cleared of assaulting a colleague she was trying to fire.
AM, a 42-year-old French woman, met her compatriot HS on July 12 at their company's office in Silicon Oasis to finalise the woman's end of service settlement and hand her a letter of termination.
She said that the worker became furious over the termination and started screaming. She then tried to leave the room without signing a receipt for the termination letter, or handing it back.
"I tried to take the letter but couldn't and a part of it was torn," said the human resources manager.
"I did not assault her," she said, adding that she had not witnessed such an incident in the 15 years she had been working as a human resources manager.
The court heard that the two first met about a year and a half ago in France when the worker was hired by the company.
The 27-year-old worker claimed that the manager had tried to force her to sign the termination letter. She said another colleague had to interfere to stop the manager from assaulting her as she left the meeting room.
She said she had filed a law suit against the company to get her end of service benefits but settled outside of court.
A witness told prosecutors she heard screaming coming from the corridor of the company offices and when she left her office to check its source, she saw the manager grabbing the worker on the shoulders and waist.
"She was screaming at her in French," said the witness SM. "[The worker] was in a shock and was crying at the time," she added.
salamir@thenational.ae
