
Whistleblower in New Orleans hotel collapse is deported to Honduras - AndrewBissell
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/30/whistleblower-in-new-orleans-hotel-collapse-is-deported-to-honduras
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fzeroracer
This seems like a pretty obvious case of retaliation. Especially when he had
valuable information to an ongoing investigation.

All this does is encourage undocumented immigrants to never report dangerous
or illegal behavior under the risk of deportation.

~~~
masonic
He didn't offer any information to authorities until a month _after the
disaster and his rearrest_ and had been ordered deported during the Obama
administration. He was only caught because he was poaching!

People _died_ that could have been saved had he been an actual whistleblower.
A whistleblower is someone who calls attention _before_ the crash. Waiting
until afterward makes you merely a witness (if not a participant).

~~~
jspash
From the article: "Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma had reported potentially
dangerous lapses in construction safety to his supervisors before the
collapse, according to lawyers"

From previous article: [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/22/new-
orleans-...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/22/new-orleans-
hotel-collapse-deported-honduras) "Construction managers allegedly told him to
ignore the issues"

Whistleblowing doesn't just mean going above the head of your supervisor. It
can mean reporting issue directly to them. Wouldn't you agree?

Yes, he probably should have taken it further but maybe his immigration status
made him reluctant to do so. And I think that's what clouding this case. But
the timeline is pretty clear.

~~~
masonic
He claimed to have reported _to his boss(es)_ , but _not_ to the building
inspector. Or OSHA. Or any other authority. Or any media.

 _That 's_ what whistleblowing is.

~~~
Cougher
From Wiki: "Those who become whistleblowers can choose to bring information or
allegations to surface either internally or externally. Internally, a
whistleblower can bring his/her accusations to the attention of other people
within the accused organization such as an immediate supervisor."

~~~
jaclaz
From Merriam-Webster:

[https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal/whistleblower](https://www.merriam-
webster.com/legal/whistleblower)

Legal Definition of whistleblower

: an employee who brings wrongdoing by an employer or other employees to the
attention of a government or law enforcement agency and who is commonly vested
by statute with rights and remedies for retaliation

That is the "legal" definition, but I understood also the "common" definition
is such, otherwise any employee that reports to his/her superior/management
_anything_ that is not "right" or "legal" or "correct" would instantly become
a whistleblower by the sheer fact of reporting that.

So according to Wikipedia all internal inspectors, auditors, etc. in a company
would be automatically "internal" whistleblowers.

------
d-d
I hate seeing a person's past catch up with them. Especially if it has the
sting of irony, is decades after the fact and FUBARs life as they know it. My
heart goes out to the guy.

