‘If a CERN scientist with diplomatic credentials and documented protections can be silenced, then any researcher, anywhere, can be,’ says Furkan Dolek
A Turkish scientist was found at a New York state detention facility after he disappeared following his exposure of labor abuses and hazardous conditions at a world-renowned US federal facility before having his visa revoked.
Reports that Furkan Dolek was located at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center came out on Wednesday, following efforts by Turkish diplomatic officials after a week-long search.
The nightmare for Dolek started after he finished his PhD in Switzerland while also working at CERN, one of the world's largest and most respected centers for scientific research. He was invited by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, known as Virginia Tech, in 2023 to continue his research.
As part of his research project, Dolek continued his scientific work at FermiLab, a Department of Energy facility in Chicago and the world's second-largest particle collider after CERN at 6.2 kilometers (3.8 miles) long. Per his ethical and professional responsibilities, Dolek reported irregularities, hazardous conditions and security vulnerabilities he identified during his work, including radioactivity exposure to employees.
Consequently, he was subjected to harassment at FermiLab and dismissed from his position.
- Conditions at FermiLab
Dolek took to the US social media platform LinkedIn to expose what happened to him.
He said during his time, he saw “exploited researchers forced to work under unsafe conditions”, “the most vulnerable left unprotected while misconduct was covered up,” and “fraud and retaliation against anyone who dared to speak.”
As evidence, he posted a video of himself operating a crane, without any prior safety training, to remove a 300,000-volt feedthrough from cryogenic service, a piece of equipment with the electric capacity of 1,500 times greater than any household outlet.
Even though he was conducting the experiment, Dolek had to simultaneously step in to operate the crane and said he reportedly was only paid for labor, instead of his scientific contributions.
“I reported it through every official whistleblower channel. Instead of protection, I was punished: false charges, dismissal, and total institutional silence,” wrote Dolek. "If a CERN scientist with diplomatic credentials and documented protections can be silenced, then any researcher, anywhere, can be.”
US Federal law requires whistleblowers to be kept anonymous and protected; however, the legal practice was not applied to Dolek.
- Visa revocation
In March, Dolek's J-1 research visa was revoked after Virginia Tech suspended his employment on April 12, 2024, and he was unable to obtain an official exit document from the school, leaving him in illegal status. All of his belongings, including his French residence permit at Fermilab, were confiscated.
"I contacted the US Department of State to formally report that my J-1 sponsor has refused to respond to multiple good-faith attempts to resolve my situation," Dolek said about his appeal to resolve his immigration status, stating multiple times on LinkedIn that his "overstay is sponsor-induced, not voluntary."
Prior to the State Department’s visa freeze, Dolek said on LinkedIn that Virginia Tech “illegally ordered payroll to block my salary.”
A total of 141 days after his visa was suspended, Dolek wrote that he called the J-1 visa hotline multiple times to appeal and ask about his status. He noted an instance that he said proves he was “lied to” about his situation.
Calling on July 25, he was informed by an agent that a status update was on the way.
But on July 28, his fourth call to the J-1 visa hotline, the same agent he had spoken to prior admitted that the ticket had been opened July 15 and subsequently closed July 22. Dolek was left undocumented and lacked basic amenities in the US.
- Dolek’s protest walk
Taking matters into his own hands, “Now, in a political climate that celebrates deportations and silences immigrants, there is no legal pathway left for me. I’m forced to move constantly, with no permanent place to stay, simply because I told the truth,” wrote Dolek.
He decided to start a protest walk to Canada.
Dolek repeatedly noted the action on social media and portrayed his moves as a protest rather than illegal immigration.
“From Chicago to New York — then across the Canadian border, by foot or river if I must. This will not be hidden. This will be documented. And it will be used to hold governments accountable on an international stage,” he said. “The immigration system here has left me with no legal way to work, no support, and no way out. Staying means dying slowly.”
He was subsequently detained by police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the Mohawk reservation on the border between New York and Canada.
- Fermilab’s management crisis
Fermilab, once hailed as the US' flagship particle physics laboratory, has been mired in turmoil since 2021. Director Nigel Lockyer’s resignation sparked a cascade of leadership exits, with replacements drawn largely from the same entrenched management circle. Nature reported in an article in January 2024 that the facility's future remained in limbo due to consistently poor grading from the Department of Energy.
James Decker, who was principal deputy director of DOE's Office of Science from 1973 to 2007, stated that the performance evaluation for 2021 was "one of the most scathing I have seen."
The most visible cracks emerged in workplace safety. A series of articles in the Chicago Tribune newspaper reported that in May 2023, a contractor fell 23 feet at the $1 billion PIP-II site, suffering life-threatening injuries in what federal investigators deemed a preventable accident.
The tragic mishap, the worst in decades, delayed the DUNE experiment’s critical accelerator project. Months later, Fermilab shut down its accelerator system to comply with new Department of Energy safety rules, while other labs continued operations.
Financial management proved no steadier. Despite a 7.6% budget increase in the 2024 financial year, rapid, unchecked staff expansion led to furloughs, layoffs and public closures.
The WTTW television station in Chicago reported that 53 employees were fired in one email. Department of Energy auditors flagged recurring procurement and oversight failures, describing a lab unable to control spending or effectively manage federal funds.
Then came the whistleblower bombshell. In July 2024, physicists released a report alleging sexual assault cover-ups, workplace violence, safety breaches and retaliation against critics.
The whistleblower report detailed multiple incidents, including one where a postdoctoral researcher worked on an international research project at Fermilab with Christopher Backhouse, a former University College London academic working as part of a joint research project at FermiLab, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Backhouse created social media accounts falsely identifying the researcher as a sex worker and sharing her personal phone number as a form of harassment, according to the report and court documents. Backhouse was alleged to have signed her up for various unwanted services and groups, including far-right hate groups and fetish websites, and delivered adult diapers and baby-proofing services to her home.
The researcher, who claimed harassment, reported the incident to the personnel department, and later left the field, according to the report. The personnel department investigated an allegation of sexual assault with no finding of fact, according to the document. But Backhouse was forced to pay nearly £50,000 ($67,188) in damages when a court in the UK, where the posts were made, found him at fault.
FermiLab Director Lia Merminga dismissed concerns and reportedly told staff to “stop whining.”
The Department of Energy responded by rebidding Fermilab’s management contract, citing persistent failures in leadership and financial accountability. The new operator, Fermi Forward Discovery Group, formally took control in January, but with much of the old leadership still intact.
Days later, Merminga resigned, leaving the lab adrift.
