On June 7, 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, relying on recent ARB decisions, held that a plaintiff who lived and worked for a Canadian subsidiary of a US company could not avail...more
7/18/2022
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Multinationals ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On May 27, 2022, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an order by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) denying a whistleblower award under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act...more
On June 29, 2020, the Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) upheld the dismissal of a whistleblower retaliation complaint under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) for failure to file within the 180-day statutory...more
8/5/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review Board ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) held that a complaint about a theoretical violation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010...more
On September 19, 2019, the Second Circuit affirmed a New York District Court’s order compelling arbitration of a whistleblower retaliation claim under the Dodd-Frank Act. Daly v. Citigroup Inc., et al., No. 18-665....more
On February 26, 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed much of a jury’s approximately $11M verdict finding that a former general counsel was discharged in retaliation for reporting alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”)...more
3/7/2019
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On December 21, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California stayed a plaintiff’s whistleblower retaliation claim under SOX (which was not subject to mandatory arbitration) while granting a motion...more
On July 12, 2018, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued its largest whistleblower award ever, approximately $30 million, as part of its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. This is the first award under the...more
On June 28, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) voted in an open meeting on several final rules and rule proposals that will have a material impact on the Commission’s whistleblower...more
On February 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that an individual is not covered by the anti-retaliation provision of the Dodd-Frank Act unless they have provided information regarding a violation of law to...more
2/26/2018
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a terminated CEO’s complaints about his board of directors’ managerial decisions did not qualify as protected whistleblowing under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002...more
1/17/2018
/ CEOs ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Summary Judgment ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On December 5, 2017, the SEC announced a whistleblower award of more than $4.1 million to an overseas former company insider. The SEC declined to disclose the identity of the whistleblower or the company at issue...more
On July 6, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed a whistleblower claim after determining that the plaintiff did not qualify as a whistleblower under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform...more
On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether individuals who do not report alleged securities law violations to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are “whistleblowers” protected by the...more
On May 22, 2017, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) adopted several additions to its whistleblower rules. Among other things, the amendments expand the Commission’s power to pursue...more
On May 11, 2017, the Northern District of New York applied the Second Circuit’s standard for evaluating a Dodd-Frank retaliation claim in response to a motion to dismiss under F.R.C.P. Rule 12(b)(6). The court denied the...more
5/25/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Objective Unreasonableness Standard ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
Recently, a California federal court denied the defendant–employer’s motion for a new trial, upholding the jury’s $7.96 million verdict finding that the Company terminated its former general counsel for reporting alleged...more
5/23/2017
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Bio-Rad Laboratories ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Motion for JMOL ,
Motion For New Trial ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On May 2, 2017, the Securities and Exchanges Commission issued a Dodd-Frank whistleblower award of more than $500,000 to an unidentified company employee. According to the SEC, the individual reported information that...more
On April 25, 2017, Digital Realty Trust Inc. asked the United States Supreme Court to decide whether an employee who files an internal complaint (as opposed to a complaint with the SEC) is covered by the Dodd-Frank Act’s...more
On April 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Dodd-Frank whistleblower award of nearly $4 million, the first bounty award issued during the Trump administration. To maintain the whistleblower’s...more
On March 21, 2017, the Northern District of Texas dismissed a former employee’s whistleblower retaliation claim on the ground that her allegations of fraud were too far removed from potentially harming the shareholders of a...more
3/28/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Failure To State A Claim ,
Fraud ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Shareholders ,
Whistleblowers
On March 8, 2017, a split three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Northern District of California decision declining to dismiss a Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claim because the plaintiff did...more
3/9/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Failure to Report ,
Internal Communications ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers
Less than one month after issuing a $22 million award, the SEC issued another multi-million dollar whistleblower award on September 20, 2016. The SEC’s most recent award exceeded $4 million.
The SEC issued its typical...more
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) has proposed numerous amendments to the Whistleblower Rules found in Part 165 of the CFTC’s Regulations. The Commission seeks to enhance the process...more
On August 30, 2016, the SEC issued a $22 million whistleblower bounty award to an individual “whose detailed tip and extensive assistance helped the agency halt a well-hidden fraud” at the whistleblower’s employer. The Acting...more