2023 was another groundbreaking year for whistleblower litigation and bounty awards.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shattered records by issuing a $279 million award and continued to actively enforce the...more
12/20/2023
/ CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fraud ,
Medicare Billing Privileges ,
OSHA ,
Qui Tam ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
United States ex rel Polansky v Executive Health Resources Inc ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently released its statutorily mandated 2023 Annual Report detailing the status of its whistleblower program for the fiscal year ending on September 20, 2023.
The...more
On January 4, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a former bank executive’s whistleblower retaliation claims, holding that two procedural errors doomed his case: he sued before exhausting his administrative remedies;...more
2021 was another blockbuster year in the whistleblowing and retaliation arena. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Office of the Whistleblower has now issued in excess of $1 billion in whistleblower...more
1/12/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Internal Reporting ,
OSHA ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Theranos ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On June 28, 2021, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted the Company’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss after an executive claimed he was discharged in violation of the Dodd-Frank...more
11/11/2021
/ Brazil ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Retaliation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Violations ,
Tax Fraud ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On July 21, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that the whistleblower protections established in SOX are not restricted to employee whistleblowers, but also extend to shareholders. SEC...more
8/6/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Investigations ,
Internet Auctions ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Omissions ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Shareholders ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On March 22, 2021, the Seventh Circuit affirmed a decision by the ARB dismissing a whistleblower retaliation complaint under SOX for failure to file within the 180-day statutory deadline. Xanthopoulos v. U.S. Department of...more
On September 30, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted an employer’s motion to dismiss a Dodd-Frank whistleblower claim on the ground that the alleged whistleblower did not complain to the...more
10/27/2020
/ Administrative Complaints ,
Administrative Remedies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
OSHA ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers
On September 23, 2020, by a vote of 3 to 2, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the adoption of a final rule implementing several changes to its whistleblower program, citing the need to “provide greater...more
10/8/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On September 14, 2020, the SEC announced payment of more than $10 million to a whistleblower who provided original information to the SEC that led to a successful enforcement action....more
On July 16, 2020, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a former IT analyst’s whistleblower retaliation claim, holding that he lacked an objectively reasonable belief that his complaints implicated one of the enumerated...more
8/18/2020
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Cybersecurity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Controls ,
Internal Investigations ,
Internal Reporting ,
Popular ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wire Fraud
On May 5, 2020, a Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued a report and recommendation recommending that a defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment dismissing a SOX...more
On November 15, 2019, the SEC published its annual report to Congress covering the agency’s whistleblower program.
The report, which covers the period of October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019, was prepared by the...more
On November 4, 2019, the SEC announced that it had filed an amended complaint against online auction portal Collectors Café and CEO Mykalai Kontilai, alleging Kontilai tried to prevent investors from communicating with the...more
11/13/2019
/ Amended Complaints ,
Dodd-Frank ,
False Statements ,
Misappropriation ,
Misleading Statements ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Settlement Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On June 3, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment on SOX and Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claims, finding that the alleged...more
On May 8, 2019, the House Committee on Financial Services passed H.R. 2515, the Whistleblower Protection Reform Act of 2019, which would amend Section 922 of Dodd-Frank to extend the statute’s anti-retaliation protections to...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 October 2, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania federal court denied a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a SOX whistleblower retaliation claim, reasoning that Plaintiff sufficiently alleged...more
10/15/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Termination ,
Whistleblowers
On October 2, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania federal court denied a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a SOX whistleblower retaliation claim, reasoning that Plaintiff sufficiently alleged...more
10/12/2018
/ Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Form 10-K ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pleadings ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblowers
On September 6, 2018, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower awarded $39 million to one whistleblower and $15 million to another. The $39 million award is the second-largest award in the history of the program, behind a $50...more
On February 5, 2018, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Defendant Khan Funds Management America, Inc.’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a whistleblower retaliation claim under Dodd-Frank on the...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland recently denied a motion for summary judgment in a whistleblower retaliation claim under the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA), Section 1057 of Dodd-Frank,...more
On November 30, 2017, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower issued a bounty award of more than $16 million to two tipsters; each received an award of more than $8 million. The SEC denied awards to five other claimants....more
The Southern District of Florida recently denied a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a former employee’s Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claims, finding that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged that she...more
10/24/2017
/ Data Security ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
GAAP ,
Internal Reporting ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
OSHA ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Whistleblowers