U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the layoff and replacement of IT workers at a state energy utility.

Approximately 200 IT workers at Northeast Utilities (now called Eversource Energy) lost their jobs in 2014. It happened after the firm brought in two India-based IT services firms. Some of the IT workers reported training foreign replacements. The IT firms, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, are major users of H-1B visa workers.

This incident might have faded away by now, but new details gave rise to Blumenthal’s letter.

Although it has been long known that the utility’s severance included a non-disparagement clause, the specific wording has never been public until Computerworld published it last week. This clause bars discussion “that would tend to disparage or discredit” the utility [emphasis added].

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