Do you work at Tools for Humanity or have a tip? I'd love to chat. I can be reached via email at neinbinder@businessinsider.com, or the encrypted messaging app Signal at neinbinder.70.

Meanwhile, former employees and experts expressed concern about the company's practices abroad. "They started in countries quite often where people really are desperate for money," said Martha Bennett, vice president and principal analyst at the global research and advisory firm Forrester.

The push for growth comes as the company, Tools for Humanity, faces pushback from global regulators, as well as questions over its business model and underlying purpose.

As one former employee said about Altman, "he is creating the disease but he also wants to create the cure."

Do you have a tip about reality tv, Hollywood, or the networks? I can be reached via email at neinbinder@businessinsider.com, or via the encrypted messaging app Signal at neinbinder.70.

www.businessinsider.com/the-profit-m...

In an interview with BI, Lemonis said he had won "any claim that was ever brought against me.”

Some claims from the show were dismissed, and Lemonis and NBCUniversal secured multimillion judgments in their favor in others. He declined to discuss the settlement agreement.

Now, Lemonis is back on air with a new show — “The Fixer” on Fox, with a similar premise to that of "The Profit."

“If the narratives presented in these interviews reflect what actually happened to those whom I interviewed, I can see how they were injured and how and why their symptoms arose,” the psychiatrist wrote.

In one record we reviewed, prepared by a psychiatrist who interviewed 48 of the owners or their family members, he described how many suffered intense damage to their self-trust and alienation. At least five people said they had been suicidal or engaged in suicidal ideation.

According to emails among the business owners discussing the settlement, one person said they took the money because they feared that otherwise, "NBC and Lemonis will throw $millions at us and in the end squash us.”

Of the roughly 100 businesses featured on “The Profit,” more than 50 filed lawsuits, engaged in mediation talks, or settled. We interviewed more than a dozen people involved with the show and reviewed thousands of pages of records, including confidential settlement documents.

As we reported late last year, the Prison Litigation Reform Act — pitched as a common-sense law to curb trivial prisoner lawsuits — has instead largely stymied cases claiming serious harm. www.businessinsider.com/plra-frivolo...

You can check out the series here: www.businessinsider.com/eighth-amend...

If you're a current or former federal worker and want to chat, I can be reached on the encrypted messaging app Signal at neinbinder.70.

Thank you, Jackie!

You can check out the series here: www.businessinsider.com/eighth-amend...

"Recent reports from Business Insider show that many prisoners have been denied their basic legal rights," @schakowsky.house.gov told us. "Any abuse that happens inside our prisons must be allowed to reach the light of day."