Marketing Professional Sexually Harassed By L&T Employee On LinkedIn, Asked for ‘Biological Help’

Vadodra: An advertising and digital marketing specialist has alleged sexual harassment by a Larsen & Toubro (L&T) employee on LinkedIn, leaving her shocked, angry, and deeply disappointed.

Stephy Philip, who according to her LinkedIn profile has over eight years of experience in brand strategy and digital marketing, is based in Vadodara, Gujarat.

She shared that she was sent an inappropriate and harassing message by an L&T employee, Jeet Baidya, on the professional networking platform.

"An employee of Larsen & Toubro, Jeet Baidya, sent me an inappropriate and harassing message here on this platform. It began with 'I need biological help' and turned into a sexual innuendo about 'biological needs'," she wrote.

Philip reported the profile to LinkedIn and reached out to some of Baidya’s colleagues. However, she said only one person offered any form of assurance, while the rest either dismissed her concern or suggested the account might have been hacked.

Philip, who runs her own marketing agency Digitalnama, said: "As someone who runs a company myself, with women working around me, I can say this: safety is the least we owe each other. Even if it’s a stranger, we step in, we help, because harassment makes anyone vulnerable in that moment. Brushing it aside is unacceptable."

Tagging L&T in her post, she publicly asked the company: "Do you train your employees on professional conduct and boundaries?" "Do you hold them accountable for their behaviour online and offline?" "Is dismissal the culture you want to encourage when misconduct is reported?" She added that the issue goes beyond a single message — it’s about ensuring professional spaces remain safe and respectful for all. "I am sad, angry, and afraid — but I refuse to stay silent. Because silence protects the harasser," she concluded.

Stephy Philip shared a screenshot of the conversation with Jeet Baidya, the L&T employee she accused of sexual harassment. Baidya’s LinkedIn account is no longer visible, but in the screenshot, he is identified as a design engineer under his name.

The first message from Baidya, dated 28 October 2024, read:
"Hi Stephy, it’s great connecting with you. How have you been?"
According to the screenshot, Philip did not respond.

The next message, marked simply as “Today,” read:
"i need biological help."

Philip confronted him, replying:
"How dare you send me such nonsense?"

Baidya responded:
"What do you mean?"

Philip, referring back to his previous message, asked:
"What do you mean here?"

In a shameless attempt to justify his message, Baidya wrote:
"Just like a human body needs food to stay alive, there are certain biological needs which, if not fulfilled, lead to stress, anxiety, and depression. So I asked you if you could help me with that?"

Commenting on the post, another woman, Bhavya Umrania, a Human Resources Executive (Talent Acquisition) at Skynet Placements, also came forward with a similar claim.

"Thanks for sharing it, I have got the same messages from the same person and was not having that much confidence to share it on the platform but due to your this step it gave me also confidence to speak up to it. Such kind of behaviour is really pathetic, some one needs to take responsibility of such behaviour. This is really Unacceptable for any one to come across such behaviour or mentality of a person. Attaching herewith the screenshots of the same person message. Once again really thankful to you for taking this step," she said sharing the screenshot.