Former female employees of Skyesports have come forward with serious allegations against CEO Shiva Nandy and other senior officials. They have accused the leadership of harassment and misconduct at work. Both female employees revealed the shocking allegations through social media posts, while the CEO responded by asking people to wait for his side of the story and not jump to conclusions after hearing only one side.
Former Skyesports female employees accuse CEO Shiva Nandy and senior staff of harassment and misconduct
Mrinal Baranwal, a former employee of Skyesports, recently revealed her reason for quitting the company in just 9 months. In a social media post, she said, “Truth behind why I quit @Skyesports in just 9 months.
Everything was going well till I started seeing way too frequent red flags.
First, the introduction of the people:
Shiva Nandy, 36, CEO/Founder at Skyesports, married, father of two preteens.
Vijay Krishnan, 32, head of esports at Skyesports, is married and the father of a 1-year-old.
Sashank Bhandaru, 38, Head of Global Business Partnership at Skyesports, married, father of a toddler
Aishwarya Rajendran, 26, SMM to Business Manager
I joined Sky in February 2024 and was happy with my job as a project coordinator. The higher authority of Skyesports, namely Shiva and Vijay, was very friendly towards me. They used to take me along with a few other girls to beaches, clubs, and restaurants to ‘hang out’ and talk about how we’re adjusting in the office and what’s going on in projects. This is where the red flags started. No one in the office knew we were going out with them. And while being drunk, one guy named Sashank told me that he doesn’t talk to me a lot because ‘I’m a badminton player, and he very easily slips for badminton players.’ He’s married and has a child. I felt horribly awkward, as married men hitting on young girls is not something I have seen.
Anyways, I moved on from it because Sashank did not work from the office and visited once a month, so I could easily avoid him. But then, more red flags from the other two started pouring in. I was made lead in a project in a new game in April, and I was told on the 16th that I have to travel on the 17th to Mumbai with Shiva to meet clients. When I asked Vijay what to pack, like formals or t-shirt jeans, he said, Don't pack loose clothes, if you know what I mean. The next day I called my brother and dad to tell them that I’m feeling very uneasy about this trip and to please keep checking on me if things go south. The same day, Shiva bought a bottle of alcohol, which I thought was for the clients. At around 8 that night, Shiva asked me to meet in the lobby. I went downstairs, where he said, Let's go to your room to drink. Again, I froze but couldn’t say anything. I went to my room with him and sat as far as I could because I swear to God I don’t remember the last time I was this awkward. He made drinks for us and tried to initiate small talk, to which I gave small replies. I stretched that one drink for over 1.5 hours, seeing which he understood and took off. I finally sighed, but just after 15 minutes I got a call from Vijay saying that Shiva was upset that I didn’t drink and open up with him, which I should have. I said I didn’t understand what he expected of me, but it was all in vain. The very next night, Shiva, Sashank, and I met at the hotel restaurant, where I was tested by Sashank while we were a little intoxicated and came to the conclusion that I don’t deserve this job. Also, I was made to sing in fun and games, to which he said, Why didn’t we hire this sweet-voiced Mrinal? which felt uneasy.
Shiva used to take Vijay, Hikari, and me to the beaches for a walk and talk. While talking privately to Shiva, very weird questions started coming in. “When do you plan to get married?” “Don’t you think your relationship is distracting you from your goals?” And when I asked why he wanted to know that, he simply said, “Well, we want to groom you so you could become the face of Skyesports. We don’t want to waste our time grooming you when you’re just going to get married and not be dedicated enough towards your career.” I felt weird, but I didn’t have an answer for him. Again, another day at the beach, I was a little down as I was taken off from the Mumbai project. He took the chance and forced my head onto his shoulder while saying, It's all going to be alright. I got awkward and lifted my head immediately while saying, Yes, I know Shiva, but he kept saying and doing the same thing till I lifted my head for the fourth time, and he finally took the signal. He also casually used to keep his hands on my shoulders, which I unfortunately couldn’t call him out for right then and there.
I called him out on this in the following week, when I first discussed it with Hikari, asking her, How do I mention it to him since I don’t want to offend him, but I don’t want him to do this anymore as I am growing very uncomfortable?” (In a good spirit, I just thought that he might be like this with everyone, but it only bothers me since I have a history of harassment and get uncomfortable with physical touches from men.) Hikari told him that day itself, and the next day we discussed it on call. He was horrified that I could accuse him, who thought of me as a sister, of something so bad. I kept telling him it wasn’t an accusation but more of a heads-up about my boundaries, to which he replied, Ok, then from now on I won’t try and talk to you. I clearly said that you can talk to me without touching me, but he paid no heed to it, and we ended the call. A few days later, he called me at 11 at night, clearly drunk, telling me how there are few things that he can’t share with his wife and I can’t share with my partner, and we need to share those things with each other, after which he took a long pause and said, “I love you, Jollies, seriously, I love you as a friend,” to which I let out an uncomfortable chuckle, not knowing what to tell him.
Also, Aishwarya went from being just a social media manager, talking softly with everyone, and being humble to becoming a business manager, talking down to everyone, wearing Jordans to the office every day (coming to the office twice a month), and getting a personal iPhone on the company’s money. Talk about overnight success. She has, on multiple occasions, taunted me indirectly and has even body-shamed me once, lol. The same girl has been traveling all over the world with Shiva, and also, when I mentioned that they were written in the same room during one event, I was ridiculed for interfering in their personal lives. I was even told that it isn’t hidden that they are good friends, and Jetsynthesys will also get a copy of the room listings, so it’s all cool. However, later I found out that the room listing was edited to the girl’s last name instead of her first, i.e., Rajendran, which sounded like a man’s name. So, heh lol.
Shifting onto Vijay, he has constantly complained to me about another female colleague (she doesn’t work there anymore) about how she keeps on talking to him whenever she has a fight with her bf and then ignores him the minute everything settles down. His exact words to me were, “See, Jollies, I am a man. I have my needs; why is she leading me like that?” Dude, you had your son 3 months ago. Also, he kept on pushing me towards Shiva indirectly and let out small, weird comments that never sat right with me. Even Sashank.
Attached screenshots
Sashank asked a guy to tell me to shift as I had recovered from typhoid, and I might make my roommate sick, to which I told him that, according to the biology I’ve read, typhoid isn’t communicable. Also, it’s so disrespectful to ask me to shift rooms in the middle of a tournament they couldn’t even handle, so that shouldn’t be their first concern.
And finally, what broke my back was what happened on an auspicious day of Dussehra. I was standing alongside Vijay during Puja, when he was showing me the pictures of the South Indian Pandals, when he swiped to his right and quickly closed his phone screen. As I watched in horror, I saw that it was my picture, from that very same day, from my back angle, without my knowledge. I was wearing a brightly colored sari so I could easily catch it, and he did not speak to me for the rest of the day, realizing what he was caught with. That was my last straw, the day I started talking to my close ones about quitting Sky. I was done. I was tired. I was scared. I couldn’t take it anymore. I put in my papers the very next week. I was fucking done. I left Chennai after my 1-month notice period, in December. And as for my career, I quit work and am pursuing my master's right now.
As for why I am telling this now, it is because I complained to HR. I wanted to deal with things the right way. Since there is no HR in Sky, I talked to people in Pune. One even flew in to meet IRL, and know what happened. I was assured this won’t die down. They will bear consequences. It’s been 5-6 months. HR has ghosted me. (Attached Screenshots) They haven’t done anything except take a small POSH at Workplace seminar, where the accused people weren’t even present. I did everything I could before taking this huge step. I have a lot of knowledge about the malpractices, too, but that's not associated with me, so I will not bring those up. But if you can't be a decent person, then your achievements mean nothing.”
Another ex-female employee, “Alexaa,” came out with a similar incident that happened with her at Skyesports
Alexa said, “It's a shame that I had a similar instance at Skyesports, which was a major reason I left my job at Skyesports last year.
I was a work-from-home employee, and I believe I was saved from most of these atrocities that Mrinal had to face.
At one of the Skyesports events in Bangalore, Vijay asked me very casually to go to a nearby place to have dinner. On the way, Vijay tried to be way too touchy, and when I froze, he even grabbed my hand and tried to pull it. This was it; I didn't know how to react.
In the following months, I was given the ultimatum that I had to leave WFH and shift to Chennai to work from the office, or else I would have to resign. Of course, I resigned.
Skyesports is the worst place to work at, and people still working there should reflect on themselves.”
CEO Shiva Nandy responded to the allegation
After the serious allegations from former female employees, Skyesports CEO Shiva Nandy responded by posting a story on Instagram. He said, “A coin has two sides… You heard only one side of the story. Please don’t jump to conclusions before the truth prevails… Stay tuned.”
