Telling the cops what my employer is doing [duplicate]

Question

I worked in a disreputable computer store. We sold fake cache chips that were supposed to speed up the computer but didn't do anything at all. I declined to sell them and assumed I would be fired, but the owner just shrugged and said "Okay."

People came in and sold stolen stuff all the time, which we resold. Generally, those people didn't know what they were selling. "Aww, that's just cheap, used printer memory. I'll give you 5 bucks for it." In fact, it was expensive laser printer memory that he sold as new for 200 bucks. That guy even ripped off people who he was giving money to.

There was an article in the Arlington Gazette about a possible stolen computer parts ring in the county.

When I got a job with the Justice Department, I quit. It was amicable, but I asked for all the backed up vacation pay for time I didn't take. He smiled and gave me a smug doubletalk answer. I couldn't have sued him for it, because our agreement was informal. He paid me in cash. I couldn't even prove I had worked there.

All the laptops we rented were stolen. He scratched off the serial numbers.

If I had threatened to call the cops unless he paid me for my vacation, would that have been extortion orblackmail, given that I was perfectly free to reveal that information without demanding anything?

note: someone made this question invisible because it's similar to another question (see comment). But that other question involved an activity that wasn't "indictable."

Answer 1

If I had threatened to call the cops unless he paid me for my vacation, would that have been extortion or blackmail, given that I was perfectly free to reveal that information without demanding anything?

usa

Yes.

See the 18 USC 873 (Blackmail):

Whoever, under a threat of informing, or as a consideration for not informing, against any violation of any law of the United States, demands or receives any money or other valuable thing, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

Potentially see also 18 USC 1951 (Extortion):

(a) Whoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

...

(b)(2): The term “extortion” means the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right.

...

The latter is intended against mobsters and racketeers, the former seems to fit your situation perfectly.

Since you mentioned the Arlington county, here's the Virginia statute, that defines the described course of action as "extortion" (Class 5 felony):

Any person who (i) threatens injury to the character, person, or property of another person, (ii) accuses him of any offense, (iii) threatens to report him as being illegally present in the United States, or (iv) knowingly destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, withholds or threatens to withhold, or possesses any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document, of another person, and thereby extorts money, property, or pecuniary benefit or any note, bond, or other evidence of debt from him or any other person, is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

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Also, consider the fact that in this situation you are likely to be an accomplice (willing, at that) to the crimes reported.

Answer 2

“Pay what you owe me or if Ito the cops” is blackmail.

Taking them to court for non-payment is perfectly legal. No written contract means you have an implicit contract. Basically, if you turn up for work and they allow you to work eight hours they have to pay you.

Now if they contradict what you say and it’s important that the judge believes you, you can tell any evidence that they are notorious liars so they won’t be believed.

You just cannot even say “tell the truth or I spell the beans”. That’s blackmail. Illegal. Telling the cops is legal, even if it is revenge. “I told the police everything because you didn’t pay me” is legal.

Answer 3

france

If I had threatened to call the cops unless he paid me for my vacation, would that have been extortion or blackmail, given that I was perfectly free to reveal that information without demanding anything?

Yes. Article 312-10 of the penal code:

Le chantage est le fait d'obtenir, en menaçant de révéler ou d'imputer des faits de nature à porter atteinte à l'honneur ou à la considération, soit une signature, un engagement ou une renonciation, soit la révélation d'un secret, soit la remise de fonds, de valeurs ou d'un bien quelconque.

Blackmail is when, by threatening to allege facts that would impunge on one’s honor or consideration, one obtains a signature, commitment, renunciation, communication of a secret, transfer of funds or precious items or any item.

See also article 312-12: attempted blackmail is punished similarly.

Note that there is no requirement that the alleged facts be criminal. "Give me $1000 or I will tell your husband you cheated on him" is a fairly standard case of blackmail, even though cheating is not illegal and neither is telling.

Side note #1: "des faits de nature à porter atteinte à l'honneur ou à la considération" is the standard formulation from speech laws; in other words, it must be something that (1) purports to represent objective facts ("Alice is a bad mayor", "Bob is an asshole" does not fit) and (2) may diminish one’s reputation ("Charlie bought me lunch the other day" does not fit in most contexts).

Side note #2: I think this section is horribly written. The sentence construction is sandwiched in the original: "blackmail is the fact to obtain, by (threatening to blah blah), (stuff)", instead of "blackmail is the fact to obain (stuff) by (threatening to blah blah)". The whole "signature, commitment, (etc.)" could probably be shortened to a general "delivery of a thing, action or communication of value to the author".