How can I effectively report this?

Question

I am in the final round of a set of job interviews with a tech contracting company out of Atlanta. I passed the initial technical screening and the very easy coding interview for a machine learning position.

In this position, I'd be given 3 months of intensive machine learning training, and then contracted out to other companies. I'd have to sign a 2 year agreement binding me to this contracting company.

None of this seems too bad, but I've recently gotten wind that this company (and many like it) regularly add fake work experience to their employee's resumes, and expect you to lie in interviews to back it up. They have not yet asked me to do this (I'm waiting for them to call me now to give me final details).

This has happened to others, and questions like "Should I take this job?" have already been asked here, so I won't repeat them.

My question is, if they do admit to to such fraudulent behavior, either in writing or over the phone, what legal action can I take against them? I hate the fact that this is a real thing, and I want to see any company like this shut down.

I've been out of grad school for 8 or 9 months now, and I was so excited to finally have a job offer. I am incredibly p*ssed that this job, which I was very excited for, is actually a way for foreign nationals to scam money from major corporations by using me as their dummy.

Edit: Just got off the phone on the final interview and I am being pushed forward. I was told that "we give you great, in depth training and then we vouch for you", so no admission of guilt, and their training is reputed to be quite good. I actually enjoyed speaking with their data-science expert about some pretty interesting mathematical concepts.

The funny thing is, the caller ID said "Brighter Brain", which is not the company that I am interviewing with. So I did a little googling and found out that this company goes by 5 or so names all around the Atlanta area. Each has complaints against them on various job boards, alleging that they make new employees sign a predatory contract and then force them to lie to clients in order to get the job. Some people are ok with this, and others are not, but seems like it is definitely going on. Any advice is definitely appreciated.

Answer 1

if they do admit to to such fraudulent behavior, either in writing or over the phone, what legal action can I take against them?

First of all, the intermediary with whom you are dealing will not admit fraud in writing or over the phone. Most likely the intermediary knows where, when, and how to give a candidate or employee directions that are sought to advance the intermediary's fraudulent purposes.

The intermediary's practices sound in violation of Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act (FBPA), OCGA 10-1-390 et seq. The Attorney General is in charge of receiving and processing/channeling all complaints pursuant to the FBPA. See 10-1-395(c).

Apropos of your mention of scamming and "foreign nationals", you might want to report the intermediary with the USCIS if you reasonably suspect the intermediary's fraudulent practices extend to obtaining visas for its employees. 18 USC § 1546 sanctions the act of "procur[ing] by means of any false claim or statement" any document of authorized stay or employment in the US.

You will have standing to sue the intermediary only if it does something unlawful to you. Even if you end up suing the intermediary, there is a chance that your case would be presided by some corrupt judge/narcofelon whose "philosophy" in court consists of favoring "employers and [...] anybody who's powerful".

In line with one of the comments, you might also want to consider denouncing the intermediary publicly. When doing so, you need to ensure that you prove or are able to prove the statements of fact you make about the intermediary. In this publication, I made statements of fact that I can readily prove by showing evidence, such as excerpt(s) of a contract with the crooked intermediary as well as excerpts of his deposition. The only reason why I refrained from disclosing other fraudulent practices this intermediary incurred is that neither these were not recorded nor did he reflect them in writing (your evidence need not be in the form of sworn/notarized documents or court filings; records such as emails would be fine).

It is comforting that you are not planning on dealing further with that kind of employer. On paper the intermediary might assure you that you retain full control of your resume, yet that will not prevent him from pressing you in ways you could hardly prove later on.

Answer 2

Here is the final action that I took:

1.) I called the Attorney General's office, as suggested by the accepted answer. They filed the complaint with the caveat that this is not the sort of thing they typically pursue, but this was rather a matter for the Georgia Department of Labor.

2.) I called the Georgia DOL, and waited on hold for 44 minutes, only to be told that the state of Georgia DOL is only concerned when it comes to insurance fraud, and that the U.S. Department of Labor was the appropriate agency to call.

3.) I called the U.S. Department of Labor, and the woman I spoke to was completely shocked at my complaint "oh my lawwwd, that's definitely illegal", followed shortly by "I have no idea who to send you to. Have you tried notifying city government?"

4.) I then called the Federal Trade Commission and this was the closest I felt I had come to reporting this to the appropriate authorities. The man on the phone was very turse and obviously didn't have time for me but, begrudgingly, took my report, and asked me for clarifying details along the way. When the report was complete he gave me a reference number, which made it feel somewhat official.

From what I understand, the FTC does not open cases without multiple reports against a business. So unless others have called this in as well, my file is already gathering dust.