Offshored To Death
Offshored To Death
Date: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 2:46 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
by Rob Sanchez
May 03, 2005 No. 1249
In the year 2003, Kevin Flanagan was so distraught that his programming
job at the Bank of America was offshored, he committed suicide in the
company parking lot. The Bay Area press ignored the story for an entire
month until a small story appeared in the Contra Costa Times. Most of
the information that came out about Kevin Flanagan was published in the
Indian Press and totally ignored by the entire U.S. media. I tell this
story because if Americans only relied on the American press to report
on Flanagan they would not have known that offshoring was the cause of
Flanagan's suicide.
Unfortunately a similar tragedy recently occurred in Colorado when
Julie Rifkin killed her two sons and then shot herself. This story is
getting far more press coverage than the Flanagan case but the details
of the job lossed that racked this family are hazy at best.
Terry Graham's article (shown below) has appeared on several web pages
and blogs. While this op-ed makes some good points it's somewhat
misleading. The obvious conclusion after reading this is that
outsourcing led to the suicide, and that outsourcing could have been
stopped if the Colorado anti-offshoring bill "Keep Jobs in America Act"
would have been approved by the Colorado Senate. There are several
things wrong with this conclusion:
* Julie Rifkin's husband lost his software engineering job at MCI
during a massive round of workforce reductions. In all of the news
articles I have read there is no indication that his job was lost to
outsourcing although it's true that MCI has offshored thousands of jobs
overseas. Many articles have been published about this incident and yet
the reporters never ask the obvious questions about why MCI was firing
software engineers.
* The "Keep Jobs in America Act" would only help state workers. Private
employers in Colorado could still offshore as many jobs as they wanted,
so it's doubtful that Don Rifkin's job would have been saved. Don was
forced to take a job out-of-state so perhaps the fact that Colorado
jobs would be saved would have allowed him to stay in Colorado; but
that's pure conjecture at this point.
Julie Rifkin's family suffered tremendously when her husband had to
relocate to South Carolina while she stayed in Colorado. She became
suicidal when she was laid off from her job and couldn't find another
one. Julie tried to get a medical billings job but the company wasn't
hiring. Medical billings is one of the industries most heavily hit by
offshoring, so it's possible that the tragedy was much more closely
linked to outsourcing than we will ever know. This was a family that
was being split apart by the job losses that are occurring in this
nation, and unfortunately three people are now dead. Whether
outsourcing played a direct role or not, this case is just one more
illustration of the human cost to the loss of middle-class jobs. I hope
we find out more about this case before the U.S. media sweeps it under
the rug.
To find out more about the Colorado offshoring bill, go to this web
page. Be sure to watch the video news report.
http://www.hireamericancitizens.org/wb2newscoverage.html
To read about the Kevin Flanagan case go to the newsletter archive and
read the following:
2003 09-18 Protests against Outsourcing
2003 06-03 US techie loses his job to India
2003 05-26 BofA Programmer Commits Suicide - Parts 2-4
2003 05-13 BofA Programmer Commits Suicide
2003 05-13 Regarding the Suicide Story
Article Used for this Newsletter
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=9725
American Workers: Outsourced/Offshored To Death
http://www.krdotv.com/DisplayStory.asp?id=9337
9-1-1 CALLER WARNED OF MURDER SUICIDE PLAN
http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/1515452.html
Friends React to Murder/Suicide
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1307239
Moms murder-suicide claims second son
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3729701,00.html
Hospital released mom who killed kids, herself
Psychiatric appraisal was conducted after she talked of suicide
You can view some video news clips about the Rifkin case at this web
page:
http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/1515452.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=9725
American Workers: Outsourced/Offshored To Death
By Terry Graham
Three Americans died in Colorado last week, victims of our
governments failure to protect its employers - Citizens - jobs
and access to healthcare.
The murder-suicide deaths of a Colorado Springs mother and her two
young sons left a husband and father without a family. While depression
is blamed, the fact is another American breadwinner lost his software
engineering job and was forced to relocate to the East Coast to earn a
living while his family stayed behind.
When his wife lost her temp job and expressed growing despair, friends
called local police who took her to a hospital for evaluation. Jobless,
probably without medical insurance, her husband thousands of miles away
and aware her children were too young to be alone, she checked herself
out of the hospital, bought a handgun, and chose a permanent solution
to a growing problem: foreigners taking jobs Americans need with the
blessing of our so-called "representatives".
This tragedy occurred as Colorados Governor Bill Owens
(governorowens@state.co.us), lobbyists and legislators killed a bill to
bring home tax-funded, offshored jobs - including programming jobs that
might have saved this family.
Senate Bill 05-023, the "Keep Jobs in America Act," would have required
Colorado to use tax dollars to hire US workers, ending the States
practice of hiring foreigners.
Introduced in January by State Senator Deanna Hanna (D), SB 05-023
prohibited Colorado from securing services from a
contractor/subcontractor using "offshore" foreign-based workers. The
Bill required prospective contractors to certify that all services
would be performed in the United States when submitting a bid to a
State agency.
Contractors failing to comply with those terms risked contract
termination, civil lawsuits, and stiff penalties including damages to
the State agency equal to the amount that agency paid for work
performed outside of the US, plus damages related to contract
termination. Violators would be barred for three years from contacts
with Colorado.
SB 05-023 was the legislative outgrowth of a proposed Colorado ballot
initiative, "Hire Americans First," which fell short of required
signatures last summer. I personally collected 250 signatures, speaking
with scores of frustrated, angry Coloradans sick of greedy globalist
employment scams paid for with our tax dollars.
Support for this populist initiative crossed political, social,
economic, educational and racial lines. Many eager signers had lost
jobs to foreign workers. (Last week, Microsofts Bill Gates demanded
the US government issue unlimited visas to foreign high-tech workers.)
Young parents spoke of friends who had been laid off, worried they were
next. Middle-aged signers described once-flourishing careers lost to
foreigners whom they had been forced to train. Many lamented that their
children could not pursue technical training because
insourcing/offshoring left a dead end for Americans.
Some expressed valid concerns about security/identity theft intrinsic
to offshoring. Foreign workers often have easy, unregulated access to
highly sensitive personal information including Social Security
numbers, income/assets, bank account records, etc. (In April, police
arrested 16 offshored call-center employees in India for allegedly
cheating Citibank customers out of nearly $350,000.)
One woman ushered a young boy into a store and returned to tell me that
his father had lost his job and health insurance to a foreigner. That
boys dad died last year, unable to afford treatment for his heart
condition.
A few years back, these talented Americans would have been at the peak
of their earning power, preparing for comfortable retirements. Today,
many eke out a living, clinging to the thin veneer of our shrinking
middle-class.
As unpaid volunteers gathered signatures for "Hire Americans First,"
State of Colorado spokesholes insisted "we need offshore workers in
India and China because they can work when Coloradans sleep! (These
bureaucratic bozos will get a 3% pay increase this year, even though
inflation is one-tenth of one percent.)
Hannas SB 05-023 was a second chance to stop exporting good jobs
created and funded by, and for, Colorado's Citizen-taxpayers.
Originally deemed to have no fiscal impact upon the States budget,
the bill stalled when Gov. Owens Dept. of Personnel and
Administration announced it would cost the State $24 million to hire
Americans rather than foreigners.
Sen. Hanna calls the $24 million price tag "bogus," designed to ensure
the bill would not survive.
"No one has a clue how many [State] jobs are being offshored, what
contracts have offshored jobs, or whether the products purchased have
been delivered,"she says.
In February, Republican Senator Ron May (ronmay@ronmay.org), who runs a
computer consulting firm, said that, "Considering that technical
services for the States IBM main processing unit is located in Asia,
and two software packages utilized are made in London and Israel,
potential increase would become an assured reality..."
Do tell, Sen. May, what information is stored in "Asian" computers run
by "Asian" workers? Who has access to it? How much are we paying for
this foreign operation? Are Coloradans - your constituents and
employers -- too stupid to handle our own high tech needs?
May further claimed that SB 05-023 "will increase costs by depriving
citizens of government services at the lowest possible price,
decreasing competition among vendors and maintaining a monitoring
system."
What do May and others have to say about the State of Colorados new
software package -- designed to determine eligibility for Medicaid,
Food Stamps and other services? The system, designed by EDS with an
unknown number of "offshore" workers, crashed and burned, putting many
vulnerable Citizens at risk while costing the State a bundle of our
money.
"The offensive part is that offshoring is touted as a way to save money
on the backs of the American workers without jobs," says Hanna, who
believes auditing offshored projects would reveal significant problems.
"We are spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about tax
incentives to bring good jobs to Colorado," she says. "Why should we
use our tax dollars to send jobs out of Colorado?"
Though SB 05-023 was approved by Colorado Senates Business, Labor &
Technology Committee, Hanna pulled the bill given Gov. Owens' threat to
veto it. Deep-pocket globo-business groups also fought it.
Still, Hanna promises to bring the bill back when more support is
available. "The people of Colorado deserve no less," she says.
Public servants are supposed to serve Citizens, protecting our health,
safety and welfare. Contact your representatives, including Senator
Hanna (deanna.hanna.senate@state.co.us), for steps you can take to make
that happen.
) 2005 Terry Graham.
Terry Graham, an American Citizen, was assaulted by a Mexican national
last July at a public forum on immigration sponsored by First Data
Corporation/Western Union in Denver. She has filed a civil lawsuit
(http://www.freespeechforum.org) seeking damages from her attacker and
First Data/Western Union. She can be reached at teegra22@yahoo.com.
Submitted to The Federal Observer by the author and was originally
published on her Free Speech forum. This article may be reproduced in
full with no changes to the text and with proper attribution. Any other
use constitutes a violation of copyright law
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.krdotv.com/DisplayStory.asp?id=9337
9-1-1 CALLER WARNED OF MURDER SUICIDE PLAN
A Co-Worker Told 9-1-1 Two Days Before Shootings That Her Friend Was
Talking Of Killing Herself And Her Sons
by Dave Rose
4/25/2005
Colorado Springs Police say the shooting deaths of three people in the
Village Seven neighborhood of Colorado Springs this weekend were the
result of murder-suicide. Advance warning came in the form of a 9-1-1
call to Springs Police on Friday.
The caller was a co-worker of Julie Rifkin who told emergency operators
that Rifkin was depressed over the loss of her job. On the 9-1-1 tape
the caller said,""She started out saying that I want to go out and get
a gun and shoot myself. I said think about your children. She said I
want to take them with me.""
It was just two days before Rifkin and her two sons were found dead in
their home. Police say Rifkin shot the boys and then turned the gun on
herself.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/1515452.html
Friends React to Murder/Suicide
Questions About Murder-Suicide
Murder-Suicide Follow-Up
KKTV 11 News
When Julie Rifkin shot and killed her two boys and herself early Sunday
morning, many people were sad, surprised and confused.
She had gone to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs Friday night for
a mental health evaluation, after a co-worker, worried about her mental
state, called 911.
Memorial Hospital administrators can't comment specifically about
Julie's case, citing federal law.
They did tell 11 News she was a volunteer chaplain at Memorial, helping
other people deal with their crises.
Julie's crisis seems to have started at 8:00 Friday night when her
co-worker called 911.
Dispatcher: "Do you believe she is suicidal?"
>Caller: "Yes."
>Dispatcher: "Correct?"
>Caller: "Correct. And I believe she has a gun in the house."
This caller tells the dispatcher, she's Julie Rifkin's co-worker, and
Julie called her earlier that day.
Caller: "She started out saying that I want to go out, get a gun, and
shoot myself. And I said, think of your children. And she said, I want
to take them with me."
Julie voluntarily went with police to memorial hospital. The hospital
evaluated her, and released her, hours later. The medical social worker
director says assessing a person's mental state is always difficult,
but they go through set protocols.
Tricia continued to call Julie throughout the weekend. She found the
Julie and her son shot to death Sunday morning. Another son had been
shot and later died at Memorial Hospital.
The El Paso County Health Department says suicide is a growing problem
in our community.
Here are a few reminders if you're faced with someone who may be
suicidal:
Take all suicide threats seriously.
Take action... get the person help.
Ask questions openly.
Show you care.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1307239
Apr. 26, 2005
Moms murder-suicide claims second son
Goliath, the Rifkin familys dog, is cradled Monday by neighbor and
friend Chris Miller. Julie Rifkin, 41, killed her sons, Gabriel and
Nathan, and then herself Sunday at their home in Village Seven near
Academy Boulevard and North Carefree Circle. Millers sister, Barbara
Carr, and Millers husband, Chuck, look at the house where the
murder-suicide occurred.
The Rifkin family: Don and Julie, Nathan and Gabriel.
By TOM ROEDER - THE GAZETTE
Two days before she shot her sleeping sons to death and then killed
herself, Julie Rifkin held her 12-year-old son Gabriel in her arms all
the way back from a school field trip.
It was a gesture of love that only reinforced the way others thought of
her. Neighbors, teachers and friends say Julie Rifkin appeared to be
the ultimate mother before Sundays tragedy.
Always volunteering. Always caring. And, until sometime a couple of
years ago, always smiling.
"I never thought it would come to this," said family friend Ron
Warttman, who said he was aware of struggles behind the perfect facade
of the Rifkin family.
Don Rifkin, who lost his wife and sons, Gabriel and his 13-year-old
brother, Nathan, issued a brief statement thanking the community for
support.
Rifkin had been working out of state and flew home in time to be with
Nathan when he died at 10:35 p.m.
"I ask that we place no blame but offer forgiveness and blessings in
the days to come," he said.
Near a hastily assembled memorial in a hallway at James Irwin Charter
School, where the two boys were straight-A students, Principal Lis
Richard looked at the heartfelt notes written by classmates and
searched her mind for indicators of the tragedy.
"No signs we could see," she said Monday afternoon. "From a school
perspective, she was an involved, wonderful mother."
Friday night, one of Julie Rifkins friends called police, saying the
devoutly Christian mother of two was suicidal. Police went to the
familys wellkept home at 4311 Delighted Circle South in Village
Seven and had an ambulance take her to Memorial Hospital for an
evaluation.
Lt. Rafael Cintron said officers asked Julie Rifkin if there were
weapons in the house.
"She said she didnt own a gun," he said.
Police records show that Friday night was the first time theyd been
called to the Rifkin house.
The hospital released Julie Rifkin that night. Hospital officials
wouldnt comment on her release, but they said they have a procedure
that requires longer evaluations for those exhibiting serious
psychological problems.
Cintron said theres no policy that police hold potentially suicidal
people for a set time.
At midnight Saturday, Julie Rifkin called a friend, Cintron said. He
didnt know what was discussed, but he said it was the last time
anyone outside the house spoke with her.
The boys were shot in their beds early Sunday. Police say Julie Rifkin
shot each in the head with a small-caliber revolver. It is unknown
where or when she obtained the weapon.
Julie Rifkin then went to her bed and shot herself in the head, police
said. A friend found the bodies of Julie and Gabriel on Sunday morning
when she arrived to pick the three up for church. Nathan was still
alive but critically wounded.
Police found no note and say they might never know why it happened.
The family had lived for about 10 years in the quiet neighborhood where
neighbors have gates between their backyard fences.
They had moved there after Don Rifkin took a job at MCI, where he
worked on computers, neighbors said.
Julie Rifkin was a hit on the cul-de-sac circuit, known for organizing
parties and caring for neighbors.
Years went by, with smiles, jokes and friendly competition to see who
could keep the best-looking yard.
Don Rifkin coached soccer. Everyone said both parents seemed devoted to
the boys.
The family fell on hard times when Don Rifkin lost his job, and
neighbors say the smile on Julie Rifkins face faded.
"It all started when he lost his job and the only job he could find was
out of state," said Chuck Miller, who has lived next to the Rifkins
since 1993. "Thats when we noticed it. She was frustrated with him
and frustrated with her world."
After months of job hunting, Don Rifkin went to work for Blue Cross
Blue Shield of South Carolina, neighbors said. He moved into an
apartment, and the family stayed behind.
Chris Miller, Chucks wife, said Julie Rifkin wanted to keep the boys
near their friends.
"She didnt want to move," Chris Miller said.
Warttman said Julie Rifkin seemed obsessed about making it on her own
without help.
"I dont need anybody," he recalled her saying when they talked on
the street in front of her house a few weeks ago.
Julie Rifkin, who had been a stay-athome mother, got a job last year
with U.S. Navigators Ministries, first waiting on customers in the
bookstore, then in a temporary post doing computer work.
"She seemed like a pleasant person," said Loren Libby, a senior vice
president with the Navigators.
But as the temporary job wound down, Chris Miller said Julie Rifkin
seemed increasingly stressed.
Warttman said Don Rifkin had told him years earlier that his wife had
struggled with depression.
"Don told me she had some problems when the kids were born," he said.
"She was on some medications. He said it was pretty much depression
medication."
Julie Rifkin concealed it, the Millers said.
"She was very good at hiding her feelings," Chuck Miller said.
The boys showed no signs of trouble at home.
At Irwin and the boys previous school, Julie Rifkin kept up a
blistering pace of parental involvement even while employed.
"She was there all the time," said Amy Lewis, a family friend who works
as a bookkeeper at the boys previous school, Evangelical Christian
Academy.
Neighbors recalled Nathan as a quiet, contemplative teenager. Gabriel
was known for running in the halls and quickly making friends, said Lis
Richard, the principal at the charter school.
"They were so respectful," Chris Miller said.
A funeral for the three is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at New Life
Church, 11025 Voyager Parkway.
"The sad thing is she was there to help people whenever they needed it,
but when it came to herself . . .," Chris Miller said, her voice
trailing off.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or
troeder@gazette.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3729701,00.html
Hospital released mom who killed kids, herself
Psychiatric appraisal was conducted after she talked of suicide
By Sarah Langbein And Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News
April 26, 2005
COLORADO SPRINGS - Julie Rifkin teetered on the verge of life and death
when she called a friend last week.
"I want to go out and get a gun and shoot myself," Rifkin reportedly
told a co-worker Friday.
The co-worker called Colorado Springs police. "She is extremely
depressed and has been for the last two weeks. I just got off the phone
with her and she mentioned that she would like to go out and buy a
gun," the caller said, according to the 911 transcript.
The co-worker told police she implored Rifkin to "think of your
children," and Rifkin responded, "I want to take them with me."
A day later, after being taken to Memorial Hospital for a psychiatric
evaluation and then discharged, Rifkin bought a gun at a pawnshop and
used it to shoot her sons - Gabriel, 12, and Nathan, 13 - while they
lay sleeping, police said. Then she killed herself.
The co-worker, who was not identified, had told police that Rifkin, 41,
was depressed over being laid off from her job at The Navigators, a
religious organization. The depression had been mounting following
financial problems, friends said.
Police went to Rifkin's home Friday night after the 911 call, and an
ambulance took her to Memorial Hospital for a mental health
examination.
The hospital would not discuss the details of Rifkin's evaluation,
citing privacy regulations. But spokesman Bradd Hafer said the hospital
has a formal protocol for treating patients who may need psychiatric
attention.
A licensed clinical social worker and physician screen the patients and
determine whether they meet "the statutory criteria for an emergency
psychiatric condition."
Joan Morrill, executive director of the Suicide Prevention Partnership
of the Pikes Peak Region, said the hospital typically asks the patient
questions such as: Have you considered suicide? Do you have a plan?
What method would you use? Do you have access to that method? And do
you plan to hurt others?
"In most cases, if you keep asking questions, they'll keep answering
them," Morrill said. "What they want is a choice because they don't
think there are any other options open to them to end their pain."
Patients who present an imminent risk can be admitted to a facility
voluntarily or on a mandatory 72-hour hold, Morrill said.
Rifkin wasn't admitted. She went back to the ranch-style home she
shared with her two sons.
Friend Tricia Langley discovered the three Sunday morning when she
arrived to pick up Rifkin for a trip to La Junta. Rifkin and Gabriel
were dead. Nathan clung to life but later died at Memorial Hospital.
Amy Lewis, whose son was a good friend of Gabriel, said the family had
struggled financially for almost two years, after Don Rifkin was laid
off from his software engineering job at MCI.
The job loss was a serious blow. Rifkin had been with MCI for years and
moved to Colorado Springs with the company when it transferred
operations from Virginia more than a decade ago, said Chuck Miller, the
Rifkins' next-door neighbor.
"He was unable to find anything around here. He got a job with Medicare
in South Carolina. It was just a six-month job, but his contract was
extended and he was still working," Miller said.
Don Rifkin was in South Carolina when he received word of the
shootings.
"They were a very good couple, and some hard times came upon them,"
said Chuck Miller's wife, Chris.
Julie Rifkin recently had asked her for a job in the Millers' medical
billing company, but they didn't need anyone.
She had resisted moving to South Carolina with her husband because the
job was temporary and "she didn't want to take her kids out of school
here," Chuck Miller said.
The children loved Colorado Springs and had made good friends, Lewis
said. The Rifkins had taken Nathan and Gabriel out of Evangelical
Christian Academy and moved them to a public school, James Irwin
Charter School, to save money.
The boys maintained close ties with their Christian Academy friends. On
the night Julie Rifkin was taken to the hospital, Gabriel was at a
birthday party for one of his former classmates.
At their new school Monday, the loss of the two boys was felt.
"The emotions ran the spectrum," said Steve Tolle, board chairman of
the charter school. "We've had grief counselors here all day, and we've
invited parents to come in with students and a lot of them have."
Don Rifkin released a statement Monday. It said: "I am very thankful to
everyone who has prayed for us during this tragic time and welcome
additional prayers. I ask that we place no blame, but offer forgiveness
and blessings in the days to come."
langbeins@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2536
Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
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