T-Mobile Update

The AFL-CIO Office of Investment recently sent a letter to T-Mobile, outlining how the company's confidentiality agreements conflict with federal whistleblower protections for reporting securities law violations.

As a T-Mobile shareholder and longstanding advocate of strong safeguards for employee whistleblowers, the AFL-CIO urged the company to investigate its use of confidentiality agreements for internal investments and take corrective action.

The letter stated, "T-Mobile should amend the terms of its confidentiality agreements to explicitly permit communications with governmental entities. T-Mobile employees who have previously signed confidentiality agreements should be informed that they are not prohibited from contacting governmental entities."

Last August, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that T-Mobile had violated U.S. labor law in two call centers when it silenced employees with such agreements. This practice was exposed as particularly egregious in Maine, where a customer service representative had filed a sexual harassment against her supervisor. The company's human resources department forced her to sign a nondisclosure agreement and told her that if she discussed the situation with her co-workers she could lose her job.

Read the full letter here.

Read more here.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation got a rare apology from T-Mobile US CEO John Legere after he blasted the group for "stirring up trouble" and a few other unprintable phrases. But T-Mobile still hasn't addressed the group's criticism of its operation.

EEF said TMUS's "Binge On," plan, its latest marketing tactic, reduces the quality of all streaming video, then lies about it to plan users. EFF called for an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission, sparking Legere's rant.

EEF is a longstanding membership organization that advocates for consumers' interests and digital rights.