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> A whistleblower represented by Whistleblower Aid has filed a complaint about the alleged violations with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Nice.

• toomuchtodo 5y ago
  Hopefully they're getting paid [1] for their efforts! [1] https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower "The Commission is authorized by Congress to provide monetary awards to eligible individuals who come forward with high-quality original information that leads to a Commission enforcement action in which over $1,000,000 in sanctions is ordered. The range for awards is between 10% and 30% of the money collected." From this post: "While international labor law is not under the purview of the SEC, the complaint alleges that Google’s failure to disclose the pay parity liabilities, which it estimates could amount to $100m, constitute material misstatements in its quarterly financial reports, a violation of US securities law." “The disclosure makes it clear that Google hasn’t just broken labor laws around the world, but has misled investors about major legal and financial liabilities,” said John Tye, founder and chief disclosure officer of Whistleblower Aid. “The lawful, anonymous whistleblower disclosure is a critical step toward ensuring that Google is held to account. We urge the SEC to bring an enforcement action against Google, and protect the rights of investors to receive complete and accurate information.”
  • elliekelly 5y ago
    It’s pretty messed up that “defrauding investors” is the legal action most likely to succeed in court and not, ya know, defrauding the people they actually defrauded.
    • toomuchtodo 5y ago
      Yep, seems to be a lot of that [1] going around. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28484294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28484294
    • neil_s 5y ago
      That's a jurisdiction issue though. Of course, the underlying cause is that the US, unlike other countries, doesn't have a pay parity law for US-employed temps.
      • Europeandude 5y ago
        You know, it's funny, while reading this thread I've been trying to remember if we have any such laws in my country. Then I realized that it probably doesn't matter, because we have a law prohibiting employing temps unless it's absolutely critical, i.e. you must offer full time employment.
• silicon2401 5y ago
  > whistleblower represented by Whistleblower Aid > https://whistlebloweraid.org/# https://whistlebloweraid.org/# Wish I had known about this when I worked at a catering company that hires "contractors" but then tells you what hours you can work, and when you can leave for the night. Sounds like a great company and I'll have to reach out and see if my info might be useful after all.
• azernik 5y ago
  Matt Levine strikes again - Everything Is Securities Fraud!
• ashtonkem 5y ago
  Ah, the “everything is securities fraud” school of US legal thought.
  • TheJoeMan 5y ago
    I was just thinking “wow I just read everything is securities fraud on HN”
    • ashtonkem 5y ago
      It seems like a natural consequence of the financialization of US society; even crime is mostly viewed in terms of harms to shareholders. I think I’m mostly being glib, mostly.