> Attaullah Baig, who served as head of security for WhatsApp from 2021 to 2025, claims that approximately 1,500 engineers had unrestricted access to user data without proper oversight, potentially violating a US government order that imposed a $5bn penalty on the company in 2020.

If it results in a new billion-dollar penalty, maybe it would've saved money to move him quietly to a cushy rest-and-vest advisory position, in which he's not allowed to see, do, or say anything.

> In his whistleblower complaint, Baig is requesting reinstatement, [...]

I don't understand the "reinstatement" part. Does he actually want to go back, and think that it wouldn't be a toxic dynamic?

(He already talked about retaliation. And then by going public the way he did, I'd think he burned that bridge, salted the earth for a mile around bridge, and then nuked the entire metro area from orbit.)

Or is "reinstatement" simply something the lawyers just have to ask for, to ostensibly make him whole, but they actually neither want nor expect that?

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jnsaff2 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

> Or is "reinstatement" simply something the lawyers just have to ask for, to ostensibly make him whole, but they actually neither want nor expect that?

“Reinstatement” is usually a legal formality in whistleblower cases: lawyers ask for it because the law says the remedy for retaliation is to make the employee whole, and it strengthens the case even if nobody expects it to happen. In reality, returning to the job is almost never feasible, so the request mostly serves as leverage for a financial settlement.

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pfortuny 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You ask to be reinstated so that the financial settelment is higher (it includes the cost of sacking him).

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tencentshill 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Now that penalty is a weapon for the president to use when he's mad at Zuckerberg.

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blitzar 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Dont whistlebowers get a percentage cut of the fine?

> In the United States, whistleblowers typically receive a percentage of the money collected by the government, ranging from 10% to 30% of fines or penalties.

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7bit 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> I don't understand the "reinstatement" part. Does he actually want to go back, and think that it wouldn't be a toxic dynamic?

Maybe he's just laying a foundation for an upcoming legal dispute?

	▲	Nevermark 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		It means he would prefer to be paid to not be reinstated. But until he is paid, his position is that he wants to be reinstated.