There were more whistleblowers in the US offices of Infosys other than just Jay Palmer, an employee who sued the company for alleged B-1 visa misuse earlier this year, FE has learned.
A human resource (HR) associate in the firm?s Plano office in Texas had filed for whistleblower protection in December last year after pointing out irregularities not just in the business visa programme, but also in other immigration practices such as I-9 form compliance (an employment eligibility verification) as well as discrepancies in local tax payments.
An internal mail from the HR associate, whose identity has been withheld, has been shared with FE by Jay Palmer?s attorney, Kenneth J Mendelsohn. The mail, sent to Jeffrey Friedel of Infosys? legal department on December 28, details what the whistleblower calls ?illegal activities seen on a daily basis?.
The associate, employed by the company for the last three years, also offers help in cleaning up the processes.
The mail is significant because it comes from an HR employee with a possible background in immigration ? the whistleblower noted that he had previously worked with a large US company that employed 3,000 foreign nationals. Jay Palmer, in contrast, is a principal consultant.
Officially, Infosys did not want to comment on the mail. An executive who did not want to be identified said that this was a letter ?from a disgruntled employee seeking a higher position and more money?. Infosys, he added, had undergone an audit by lawyers who did not find any wrong doing. The company, known for its high ethical standards, has always maintained that it has done no wrong.
In his mail, the whistleblower wrote that he had noticed problems with I-9 non compliance since April 2008. ?In many cases no one from the company physically viewed documents presented as evidence of identity and right to work for I-9 forms,? he pointed out.
Without checking, managers would sign off the form whereas legally, company representatives are supposed to physically see an employee?s documents. ?When I continued to bring up the issue to my manager, I was told, ?don?t worry, this is the responsibility of the immigration department and what we don?t know won?t hurt us?,? the HR associate wrote.
The employee?s allegations of Indians illegally working on a B-1 business visa are similar to Palmer?s ? he noted that employees with the business visa were working at client sites and that Infosys was billing for their work. B-1 visa is only valid for entry into the US for meetings and training.
Further, the whistleblower, said that employees and Infosys were not paying federal, state or local taxes. ?I handle short-term/long-term disability for Infosys. I recently became aware of employees working for large well known clients in the banking and capital markets industries in New Jersey, who have listed their work location as New York in our systems. In April 2009, when the client moved the project from New York to New Jersey, the managers and employees did not change their work location. Meaning, for over a-year-and-half Infosys has not paid the correct federal, state and local taxes. This is a common practice by Infosys managers throughout the US,? the employee complained.
A second document shared with FE by Jay Palmer?s attorney suggests that Infosys may have tweaked its visa programme processes after Palmer complained of irregularities in December last year. In a mail to Palmer, Jeffrey Friedel of the firm?s legal department wrote, ?The issues that you have reported to us have made it clear to management that certain changes need to be made to our systems and processes to prevent the misuse of the business visa programme.? He went on to list seven solutions to ensure compliance, which includes clarifying the range of activities permissible on business visa as well as creating an online training plan to improve employee awareness on business visa travel.
In the case of a negative outcome to Palmer?s lawsuit, the US can potentially suspend some visa privileges to Infosys, impose stiff fines and even jail erring employees.