The permanent removal of a medical professional from practice for egregious sexual harassment serves as a powerful reminder that even the most stringent policies can fail to protect employees. When a physician is found guilty of creating a hostile environment, it exposes a critical flaw not just in one individual’s character, but in the organizational fabric that allowed such behavior to occur. The case of Dr. Velmurugan Kuppuswamy has become a focal point for a broader conversation among human resources experts, who argue that preventing harassment is less about rules written in a handbook and more about the culture lived every day.
When the Rules Are Not Enough
The case of Dr. Velmurugan Kuppuswamy, a physician found guilty of sexually harassing colleagues, offers a stark entry point into this systemic issue. A medical tribunal determined his actions were sexually motivated and ordered him struck from the medical register, the most severe sanction possible. This decisive action, however, came only after significant harm was done, raising a critical question for organizations everywhere: if zero-tolerance policies are in place, why does severe harassment like this still happen?
The answer, according to workplace strategists, lies in the gap between policy and practice. An organization can have impeccably written rules, but if the daily environment implicitly condones or ignores boundary-crossing behavior, those rules become meaningless. The Kuppuswamy case is a textbook example of this failure, illustrating that punishment after the fact is not a substitute for a culture that prevents harm in the first place.
The Anatomy of a Workplace Failure
The tribunal’s findings painted a disturbing picture of Dr. Kuppuswamy’s conduct. His actions included unsolicited physical contact, such as squeezing a junior colleague’s waist and placing his hand on another’s thigh near her groin. Furthermore, he sent flirtatious messages and made degrading comments, at one point telling female colleagues to “use your chests as paddles” during a game. This pattern of behavior was not a single misstep but a sustained campaign of misconduct.
In its conclusion, the tribunal stated that his actions created an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.” This legalistic language describes a tangible reality for his victims: a workplace where they felt unsafe and devalued. While this was an individual’s failure, experts frame it as a clear symptom of a broader, more pervasive problem where professional hierarchies can be exploited and inappropriate conduct goes unchecked.
The Policy Paradox of Zero Tolerance
Many organizations proudly display a “zero-tolerance” policy toward harassment, but experts increasingly view such statements as mere wallpaper if not supported by a living, breathing culture of respect. The consensus is that written policies are fundamentally ineffective on their own. They can fulfill a legal requirement, but they do not, by themselves, stop a perpetrator or empower a victim.
The real determinant of workplace safety is what is known as the “de facto culture”—the unwritten rules of what is actually tolerated on a day-to-day basis. Harassment thrives not in a vacuum of rules, but in environments where professional and personal boundaries have been allowed to erode over time. When minor infractions are ignored, it sends a powerful message that more significant violations may also be overlooked, creating fertile ground for predators.
An Expert Diagnosis on a Deeper Sickness
The unified opinion among HR professionals is that incidents of harassment are rarely isolated events caused by a single “bad apple.” Instead, they are symptoms of a flawed organizational culture. A workplace where a senior employee feels emboldened enough to engage in sexual misconduct is often one where power dynamics are unhealthy, communication is poor, and accountability is weak.
This diagnosis is supported by the common fear among victims that reporting misconduct will lead to inaction or, worse, retaliation. This fear explains why so many incidents go unreported, allowing perpetrators to continue their behavior without consequence. True prevention, therefore, begins with a fundamental shift in perspective: acknowledging that the environment, not just the individual, is the problem that needs to be solved.
A Blueprint for Proactive Prevention
To build a genuinely safe workplace, organizations must move beyond a compliance mindset and toward proactive culture-building. The first step is establishing true accountability, where leaders and peers are expected to actively uphold standards, not just passively agree to them. This must be paired with trusted reporting channels that are psychologically safe and accessible, assuring employees they can voice concerns without fear of reprisal.
Behavioral expectations must also be moved from dusty handbooks into the daily life of the organization. This means high-visibility communications, frequent reinforcement from leadership, and integration into team meetings and performance discussions. Finally, meeting the legal mandate requires a modern, comprehensive program that includes targeted manager training, robust whistleblowing support, and bystander intervention initiatives. This multi-faceted approach is no longer optional; it is a core duty for any employer committed to creating tangible, lasting change.
The focus on an integrated cultural strategy represented a significant departure from the compliance-driven models of the past. Organizations that successfully made this transition found that a culture of respect not only reduced legal risk but also improved employee trust, engagement, and overall performance. The conversation shifted from merely punishing misconduct to actively cultivating an environment where it could not take root. In doing so, these companies learned that the ultimate defense against harassment was not a policy document, but a community built on a foundation of genuine accountability and mutual respect.
