Pune IT Employee on Hunger Strike Claims Unlawful Termination During Cancer Treatment

Yerwada, 11th December 2025: An IT professional from Pune has been staging a hunger strike outside Commerzone IT Park, where his company’s office is located, since Monday, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated after taking medical leave for cancer treatment.

The employee, Santosh Patole, has been associated with a reputed French firm for eight years. In April this year, during a routine annual health check-up, Patole was diagnosed with throat cancer. He subsequently took several months off for treatment and resumed work in July.

According to Patole, he was terminated on July 27 under the pretext of allegedly mishandling certain financial transactions, which the company claimed led to financial losses. Patole, however, denies involvement in these transactions, pointing out that his performance over the past three years had consistently been rated excellent.

“The allegations are completely baseless. I question how these transactions could have caused losses if my work was consistently praised,” he said.

Patole joined the company in 2017 as a Facility Manager and continues to undergo cancer treatment even after returning to work. He claims that the termination has caused severe mental and physical distress, and adversely affected his career and family life.

Initially, Patole demanded reinstatement, but as the situation escalated, he is now seeking compensation from the company for the alleged damages suffered due to the termination.

As of now, the company has not issued any public statement regarding Patole’s allegations or the ongoing hunger strike.