‘Felt dismissed and insulted': Indian working in US told to stop speaking in meetings because of accent

Mint

5 hours ago

An Indian man, working in the United States, expressed his disappointment with the workplace discrimination, claiming he was asked to stop by his colleagues from speaking in meetings as his accent is hard to understand for them.
Taking to social media website Reddit, the 32-year-old man wrote, '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.'
Stating that he felt dismissed and insulted, the man living and working in the US, wrote, "I felt dismissed and insulted. 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 even asked if other people in similar positions have experienced something like this, 'Is this kind of reaction something others have encountered? How do you deal with something like this professionally without letting it damage your confidence or your contributions?'
One wrote, "I have been in meetings with Russians, Vietnamese etc. where I could not understand a single word they said and had to ask for clarification again and again. We eventually had to open a shared google doc and write our Q & A in it."
Another wrote, "55 year old could mean that person will be let go of soon and they know it. Beware of politics, fuck that guy, start speaking more in meetings. Legit."
A third commented, 'Just tell him that's a you-problem. lol jk, side note get your accent checked by a linguist/speech therapist : how neutral is the English. If it's fairly neutral, you're good else work on it.'
While a fourth said, "You should join a spoken English class, and aim to neutralise your accent by reducing Mother Tongue Influence."
"That's so rude and constitutes workplace bullying I think. I would speak to my manager and file an HR complaint," a fifth user said.
A sixth user advised, "Don't get demoralized Bro.. speak up you have the rights.. politely say I also face such problems but never mind taking questions or clarifications...again.."