IT Company Cuts Ties with ICE After Employee Sabotages Systems in Protest

Chef, a company that helps companies manage their technical infrastructure, has cut ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after one of its employees sabotaged the company’s systems in protest of its government contract. The employee deleted computer code from the company’s systems, impacting its ability to support its customers.

According to a blog post from the company, the employee’s decision to remove the computer code had an impact on “production systems for a number of our customers,” according to Chef, and led the company to deploy its “entire team” to “minimize customer downtime and will continue to do so until we restore services to 100% operation.”

Despite the disruption to its service caused by the rogue employee, Chef has decided to pay the dane-geld. It has cut ties with ICE, ending a business relationship that began during the Obama administration.

Not only did Chef’s CEO, Barry Crist, cave in to intimidation tactics, he actually apologized to the mob. In a blog post Monday, Crist wrote:

While I and others privately opposed this and various other related policies, we did not take a position despite the recommendation of many of our employees. I apologize for this. I had hoped that traditional political checks and balances would provide remedy and that our relationship with our various government customers could avoid getting intermingled with these policies. However, it is clear that checks and balances have not provided relief to the fundamental issues of the policies in question. Chef, as well as other companies, can take stronger positions against these policies that violate basic human rights. Over the past year, many of our employees have constructively advocated for a change in our position, and I want to thank them.

After deep introspection and dialog within Chef, we will not renew our current contracts with ICE and CBP when they expire over the next year.

The tactic of bullying corporations into line with the progressive political agenda continues to gain traction on the left. Chef caving to the threat of sabotage is another example.