I.M.F. Whistleblower Battle Down to a Scuffle in Public
September 13, 2014
By Douglas Gillison*
Facing embarrassing accusations of financing a corrupt mining operation in Africa, the International Monetary Fund on Friday sought to fend off a lawsuit by a former employee who says he was unceremoniously fired for sounding the alarm.
However, in arguments before a federal appeals court in Washington, the question at hand was whether and in what circumstances the blanket of legal immunity given to organizations like the I.M.F. and the World Bank can ever be lifted.
As a result, the lawsuit by Eugène Nyambal, a Cameroonian economist and specialist in development, focuses not on the loss of his job but on a 2009 incident, in which he claims he was manhandled by private security guards at an employee credit union.
Nyambal claims he was fired without explanation in 2009 after complaining internally that an I.M.F. agreement to allow the financing of a mining project in Cameroon was little more than a gambit to embezzle tens of millions of dollars in public funds.
Though less grand than the corruption allegations, Nyambal has chosen the narrow question of his treatment at the credit union as a possible chink in the I.M.F.’s considerable legal armor.
The I.M.F.’s private contracts involving the credit union may have compromised the I.M.F.’s immunity, according to Nyambal’s lawyer, John M. Shoreman.
Judges at Friday’s appeals hearing appeared skeptical of both sides.
However the questioning was heaviest from Senior Circuit Judge Laurence H. Silberman, a Reagan appointee and erstwhile player in conservative Washington.
Silberman noted that the I.M.F. was claiming that any waiver of immunity had to be approved by its executive board. “Suppose Mme. Lagarde writes a contract for a million dollars in furniture that expressly waives immunity,” said Silberman, referring to I.M.F. Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “If she did sign that agreement, how would a party dealing with the I.M.F. know that she doesn’t have the authority to waive immunity?” Under Silberman’s repeated interruptions, Patrick J. Carome, the WilmerHale media litigator representing the I.M.F., at times stammered to make complete responses. “I suppose there would be some issues in that case,” said Carome, a former in-house lawyer at The Washington Post. “I think that weakens your argument,” said Silberman. Carome responded that an agreement between the I.M.F. and one outside party would not give a third party, such as Nyambal, grounds to challenge the organization’s immunity. [caption id="attachment_12008" align="alignright" width="150"]
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