Nuisance lawsuits and threats of legal entanglement, long used by Indian H-1b labor contractors to silence Indian tech workers, have now been aimed at an American tech worker website, endh1b.com, for reposting an Indian H-1B worker's testimony of mistreatment by Apex Technology Group,  including a link to an employment contract binding the worker to Apex. 

Bond agreements are illegal in the US but legal and wide spread in India.  

Endh1b.com refused to remove the repost and refused to comply with Apex's request for contact information on the alleged former Apex employee.

It all started on November 30, 2009 when a representative of Apex Technology Group demanded in an email that the administrator of Endh1b.com provide Apex with the contact information for Mr. Pankaj Jain, an original poster from desicruch.com, an Indian tech worker web site.

Apex also requested that the reposted comments from Mr. Jain be removed from Endh1b.com, an American tech worker web site.

The administrator of Endh1b.com refused stating,"We are not in the business of helping exploitative Desi bodyshops target their H-1B victims for harassment, retribution, or violence."

It ended on Wednesday, December 23rd when  New Jersey Judge  P. Hurley ordered Facebook, Yahoo, and Comcast and  to reveal the identities of two John Does associated with Endh1b.com.  It also ordered three web sites shut down. Endh1b.com's hosting company has already complied with the order and shut down the site.

"I’m astonished that an American judge would force American web sites to rat on American workers who wouldn’t snitch on an Indian H-1b," said Donna Conroy, a technical professional and Director of Bright Future Jobs. 

"If this order stands, it will rob the security every American expects when they post complaints anonymously or express their opinions on-line. It will create a credible threat that Americans could face retaliation from any current or former employer."

John Doe, named in the order and the administrator of Endh1b.com stated, " I am not going to back down. I am not here to help hunt down Indian H-1Bs who have been exploited by companies like Apex. I will fight this to the end."

Explaining his position, John Doe stated, "My sites have served American I.T. professionals who have felt silenced and marginalized by the off-shoring/outsourcing lobby. I owe it to them, and every single American, to stand up to the agents of intimidation who want to silence me and other Americans. Only by speaking out can we control and shape our destiny."

"Apex and Judge P. Hurley can pry my freedom of speech from my cold, dead hands."

Techgoss.com, an Indian tech worker web site that was first to cover the developing story, is supporting American tech workers at endh1b.com who are standing up against these strong-arm tactics.  The editor at Techgoss, Bala Shah, stated in an email, "While we may not agree with you on some points, we certainly respect your freedoms to blog and write what you feel like."

Conroy applauded Mr. Shah's stance, stating, "Indians are horrified that the bullying they are accustom to has followed them to American shores. They've discovered that the threats and intimidation they have long endured has now made the world flat."

This is the first time that Indian and American tech workers across the political spectrum have united in support of freedom of speech and freedom from an employer’s intimidation.   Conroy predicted, "This seminal moment will undoubtedly encourage some Indian h-1bs to challenge the bond contracts that tie them to employers and the entire bench system."

Conroy commented, "We at Bright Future Jobs have made it our mission to reveal the 20 years of legal discrimination against highly-skilled American technical talent allowed under corporate visa programs.  Tech companies prefer to hire technical workers who cannot or will not stand up against an intimidating boss.  Americans would never sign a contract binding them to one employer."

"Now that the routine intimidation of foreign workers is aimed at American workers, Congress, policy wonks, and the American media will finally understand that no nation can remain strong when its citizens can’t fairly compete for job openings in their own country that they are qualified to do."