Whistleblower In Limbo After Reporting H-1B Visa Fraud At Infosys

McGruber writes "The New York Times has the sad story of Jack B. Palmer, an employee of Infosys, the giant Indian outsourcing firm. 17 months ago, Mr. Palmer made a quiet internal complaint that Infosys was committing visa fraud by bringing 'in Indian workers on short-term visitor visas, known as B-1, instead of longer-term temporary visas, known as H-1B, which are more costly and time-consuming to obtain.' Since making his complaint, Mr. Palmer 'has been harassed by superiors and co-workers, sidelined with no work assignment, shut out of the company's computers, denied bonuses and hounded by death threats.'"

Comments

Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[crazyjj]

Jack B. Palmer first made a quiet complaint through internal channels at Infosys,

Was he really naive enough to think that these were the actions of some rogue managers and that the company would be thrilled to have him put it all in writing? Did he expect them to send him a Thank You letter, beginning with "Thank you for putting this illegal activity, that we've been quietly doing for years under the table, into writing. We really appreciate that you've opened us up now to criminal liability and that your complaint will cost us a fortune. We're so glad that you did this instead of looking the other way and keeping your fucking mouth shut like everyone else in the company. Here's your bonus!"

Dude, if you're going to be a whistleblower, accept that it means you have to burn that bridge. There is no going back across it and expecting everything to be the same afterwards. Being a whistleblower means making the right moral choice and then paying the price for it. Yeah that sucks--but what's new, huh? Jesus and Superman didn't fight the Romans and Lex Luther without expecting some backlash, you know.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[mbstone]

"Thank you for putting this illegal activity, that we've been quietly doing for years under the table, into writing. We really appreciate that you've opened us up now to criminal liability and that your complaint will cost us a fortune. We're so glad that you did this instead of looking the other way and keeping your fucking mouth shut like everyone else in the company. Here's your bonus!"

He had to write it. Otherwise he would sue, and their lawyers would say, "Heavens to Betsy, who knew? Why didn't you tell us?"

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[interval1066]

He wasn't really a whistleblwer. The action he took is described as a "quiet internal memo". The story only blew after 17 months of the company screwing with him. They should have thanked him, at least told him they were working on the situation, and left him alone, If they had taken that action, we probably would have never heard of it. Now, they come out smelling like garbage, he has a hell of a lawsuit he can throw at them, and all becuase they wanted to act like babies when some one told THEM that they were screwing up. I don't think naivete has anything to do with this.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[cpu6502]

Carrying a gun doesn't make you a nutcase. Given how many get killed, raped, or assaulted, it is only logical to carry a gun or stunner.

As for your claim that he's whining "hw has no real work to do" please provide a link. Otherwise I have to reject your claim as having no basis.

I also have to reject your claim that he deserves death threats -- for what reason? Obeying the law??? I don't benerally listen to people who advocate law-breaking with falsified Visas. That makes you a criminal.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

So someone taped a death threat to his chair at work, and he's gotten a few crank phone calls. Big. Bloody. Deal. Get a dozen women in a room and you'll hear at least six have gone through a lot worse without ending up pointing guns at unarmed strangers.

Hah. What an argument. Some women have gone through something worse, so a man has no right to feel physically safe. Right.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[Barbara, not Barbie]

As for your claim that he's whining "hw has no real work to do" please provide a link. Otherwise I have to reject your claim as having no basis.

It's right there in the NY Times story that the summary linked to.

Mr. Palmer is still on the Infosys payroll, but with no work and little communication from the company, and his moods swing erratically, he said. He has struggled with drinking, gained and lost 20 pounds and taken medication for anger and depression.

â€oeYouâ€(TM)re around people every day, and then all of a sudden you are staring at four walls,†Mr. Palmer wrote in an e-mail. â€oeNo one will hire me and I canâ€(TM)t quit, so they just torture me. I have become numb and cumbersome to this world.â€

Menacing calls to his home and his motherâ€(TM)s nearby prompted him to buy a handgun, which he straps to his ankle whenever he goes out. Always on edge, he drew the gun in February on a salesman who tried to approach his house to offer cleaning goods.

He's getting full base pay - $90,000 a year - to sit at home and do NOTHING!

His job deprived some of his fellow citizens of work AND a pay-check. So no, he has no work, but he keeps the pay? Call me back when they've stopped paying him, so I can make a point about karma.

And no, one death threat and a few crank phone calls is not a reason to go all paranoid, hit the booze (it's in the story), and become a risk to passers-by. If that were the case, most women would be be toting complete body armour, an RPG launcher, and a mini-gatling gun.

And nowhere did I advocate falsifying visas, so STFU and DIAF. Oh, look - now you can go around and get a gun too!!!

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[Tassach]

I also have to reject your claim that he deserves death threats -- for what reason? Obeying the law??? I don't benerally listen to people who advocate law-breaking with falsified Visas. That makes you a criminal.

You could also argue that it was his duty to inform the higher-ups that their lawbreaking was obvious. You have a moral as well as a fiduciary duty to inform management of risks that could impact the business. If you know of a situation that could cost the company millions/billions in fines, civil judgements, and bad PR, and you *don't* report it, you're not doing your job.

(AFIK) Under Sarbanes-Oxley, not reporting illegal activity to management could wind up costing *you* your freedom. A paper trail will cover your ass when the shit inevitably hits the fan.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[Barbara, not Barbie]

So you believe that a note left on his office chair and a couple of crank phone calls, and then sitting at home and being paid $1,800 a week to do NOTHING should turn someone into a paranoid gun-toting pill-popping drunk? Wow. Just .... wow ...

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[causality]

That pretty much sums it up.

Nice "me too" but no, not entirely. There's a lesson here for other would-be whistleblowers.

The lesson? Don't try to be a nice guy by going through channels, keeping it internal, identifying yourself, etc. Instead, quietly collect all the absolutely damning evidence you can gather, be certain that it names names, and then bring it straight to the authorities. If you can remain anonymous while doing that, like an informant, then so much the better.

If this is how someone who raises a benign warning is going to be treated, then just fucking nail them as hard as you can. They are obviously unworthy of someone who wants to be amiable and play softball, as one would expect of the kind of sociopaths who create this situation in the first place. Instead of letting this frighten you into reluctant silence, just don't put the ball in their court to begin with as that's terrible strategy.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[cusco]

management will be criminally prosecuted

Seriously? You apparently haven't been paying attention to world events for, oh, the last four decades or so. The only executives that ever go to jail are those who lose rich people's money. Tyson got caught, repeatedly, paying truckers $200/head to bring illegals from Mexico to work in their Arkansas chicken processing plants to avoid having to pay workers compensation claims (injured on the job? must be time to call Immigration!) Their penalty? A fine of about half the amount that they saved by abusing the mojados. IIRC, no one was even disciplined internally. Infosys won't even be banned from working US gov't contracts.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[Barbara, not Barbie]

No, I did not. But YOU have made it clear that you think it's okay to outsource jobs to other countries even if it harms your neighbours, by trying a really lame straw-man argument.

For the record? Tell any company selling product here that they have 2 choices - either also invest in jobs here, or pay up to a 100% import duty. "Free" trade isn't free when its' hidden costs are the decimation of whole sectors of the economy, and when companies can off-shore the problems of pollution, etc. to havens where everyone is looking the other way.

Re:Was he really naive enough to expect otherwise?

[Omestes]

The "empire" of the United States is in the process of collapsing from internal corruption, entirely its own fault. How's that "hope and change" working out for you?

If the American "empire" is falling, the causes stretch back long before Obama. I'd say that these problems were endemic when Obama hit office, and he is but a further symptom of them.

I'd like to say Reagan was the start, but I'd be wrong, I'd say these things stretch back to, at least, Truman. Some of the seeds were probably existent since almost back to our founding.

I'm not an Obama fan or apologist. I don't think we'd be any better off with any of the people who were running against him (even Ron Paul), and I don't think we'll be any better off with any of the people running against him now (even Ron Paul). The problems run deeper than just the president, or petty partisanship, or any single body of the government.

Re:Is anyone surprised they do this?

[h4rr4r]

Of course, and that is why the punishments for these things have to make it not profitable. The simple way to do that is ban those people from ever coming back to the USA and fine the company millions. If the execs knew about it toss them in the clink.

Guest Worker programs == pro-employer Fraud.

[sethstorm]

"The New York Times has the sad story of Jack B. Palmer, an employee of Infosys, the giant Indian outsourcing firm. 17 months ago, Mr. Palmer made a quiet internal complaint that Infosys was committing visa fraud by bringing 'in Indian workers on short-term visitor visas, known as B-1, instead of longer-term temporary visas, known as H-1B, which are more costly and time-consuming to obtain.'

Hopefully this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to more of these kinds of things.

Since making his complaint, Mr. Palmer 'has been harassed by superiors and co-workers, sidelined with no work assignment, shut out of the company's computers, denied bonuses and hounded by death threats.'"

Isn't that something called retaliation? People that have a vested interest in moving work offshore really hate it when there is evidence that you're doing it based on fraud - especially fraud that exposes them for being against US citizens.

If Infosys willing to do everything against this guy, he sure must have something damning enough to warrant death threats.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Gather evidence.

[ZombieBraintrust]

They should feel stupid for hiring an American IT worker and placing him in a management position. An Indian dev lead would not have reported this.

The only court that matters-public opinion

[evanism]

Agreed. Take a baseball bat straigt to the head of these companies. Gather and release. Make it public and nuke them from space.

All too often the most evil actions are created by big organisations. They all tend towards being sociopathic.