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Jeffrey P. Naimon quoted in American Banker article, “Treasury watchdog subpoenas Google to identify whistleblower”

American Banker

Jeffrey P. Naimon was quoted on April 4, 2018 in an American Banker article, “Treasury watchdog subpoenas Google to identify whistleblower,” which discussed the investigation by the Treasury Department’s office of the inspector general to identify an employee within the Office of Financial Research who posted five YouTube videos that raised concerns about discrimination and diversity issues at the research office. The article stated, “The inspector general's office subpoenaed Google, which owns YouTube, in February, asking for identifying information about the employee as well as for the content of two of the videos. All of the videos were removed from public view by the employee last fall, according to court filings. The videos were created to alert Congress to problems at the agency, and they were sent to more than 15 lawmakers along with a request for help, according to a March 27 motion to quash the subpoena filed on behalf of the employee. According to the motion, the employee, who is described as a whistleblower, took several steps to alert officials to ‘unfair and discriminatory employment practices, unethical behavior, fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, and retaliation’ at the Office of Financial Research before creating the videos. That included anonymous complaints to the Office of Inspector General, the Office of Special Counsel and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Still, others emphasized that inspector general offices tend to run independently of the agencies they watchdog and that the Treasury inspector general's office might just have gotten the opportunity to look at some of the claims raised in the videos.”

Naimon added, “They are good at being independent. They're nonpartisan and when there's a credible allegation, they're supposed to look into it. Inspectors general don't always get around to things while they are still in the headlines. It doesn't seem unusual that they'd be dealing with something a year later.”

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