Whistleblower says VinFast locked employees inside

A whistleblower lost his job at Jaguar Land Rover after he exposed VinFast’s unsafe practices — and now he’s revealing more

Imagine your employer locks you inside your workplace over the weekend to make sure you complete your tasks on time. Sounds far-fetched, right? Well, that’s what Vietnamese automaker VinFast allegedly did to some of its employees, according to a new report. A whistleblower came forward to reveal these claims and other information about workplace practices.

Last week, the same whistleblower, Hazar Denli, went public and said he lost his job after raising concerns about VinFast security online. Danley claimed the safety issues were related to rushed parts development, which he said resulted in cars that were not durable and were so unsafe that he wouldn’t let his friends or family ride in one.

Read: Jaguar Land Rover fires whistleblower for Reddit AMA about Vinfast safety flaws

In a newly released report the timesDenli said VinFast also locked employees “inside all night, forcing them to continue working.” The second person also the timesapparently confirming Danley’s statement. On top of that, the publication said it had seen an internal document in which a Tata employee acknowledged that the blockade had occurred. VinFast hired Tata Technologies Limited (TTL), the British subsidiary of the Tata Group, for some product development, which explains the connection between the two companies and how Denli ended up getting involved in the VinFast project.

The document, reportedly a summary of a meeting between a corporate investigator and another Tata employee, reads:

“He mentioned a specific story[in his Reddit post]where during COVID, they locked down the factory—anyone who was in the factory was locked in and slept there.

“Only a small number of people were blocked. We know the people involved and know that Hazare was good friends with one of them. We don’t know the first-hand experience, but we know who he got his information from.”

The unnamed source also claimed, “There have been many incidents of people being locked in factories. There have also been many cases where people on their way to the airport have been told to turn around, not board the plane and go back to the factory. That’s just natural and culture.”

Danley’s consequences

After resigning from the company, Danley was employed by Jaguar Land Rover, which is also part of the Tata Group. However, when TTL contacted Jaguar Land Rover’s HR director and asked that he be fired, he was fired after posting his concerns on Reddit. Denli therefore commenced employment proceedings for unfair dismissal.

Although the allegations have not been proven in court, they raise serious questions that require further investigation. According to reports, both VinFast and the Tata Group have refused to issue detailed public statements on these allegations.