The Federal Department of Labor’s allegation that Forge is interfering with the investigation is wholly without merit. Protecting the privacy and business interests of its valued clients is a priority for Forge, and as the DOL concedes in its filing, Forge promptly and voluntarily produced, through our office, all information requested in the extremely broad subpoena requests, with the single exception of client information.
As the DOL is well aware – because this has been the subject of multiple meetings, phone calls, and communications with DOL representatives over the course of the past several weeks – Forge is very concerned that the DOL’s use of Forge’s client information will be unnecessarily disruptive to those relationships. While the DOL has indicated that it needs Forge’s client information so that it may interview workers, Forge sees this request as intrusive and unnecessary since they have already provided contact information for every single worker. Forge also subsequently offered to facilitate worker interviews by DOL representatives. Instead of responding to that offer, the DOL filed its petition.
Forge’s cooperation with the DOL is consistent with its approach to requests for information from the Michigan Department of Labor and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those agencies also served requests for information, and Forge provided all information requested.