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Severance Agreements Enforcement Actions

Perkins Coie

Whistleblower Protection Remains SEC Priority

Perkins Coie on

Last week, the SEC announced settled charges against seven public companies for use of agreements that the SEC alleges have provisions that violate the whistleblower protection rule. Coincidentally, I recently recorded a...more

BakerHostetler

Employers Beware: Broad Confidentiality and Severance Clauses May Violate Whistleblower Protection Laws

BakerHostetler on

Employers should check their confidentiality and severance agreements for a common oversight that, for some, is becoming a costly error. Recent enforcement activity by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Rule...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Recent Whistleblower Enforcement Actions Highlight SEC Focus On Employee Agreements

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In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced the settlement of three enforcement actions for violations of SEC whistleblower protection laws. In the actions, the SEC asserted that the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

SEC to Issuers: Retaliating Against or Impeding Whistleblowers Is Not Zen

Holland & Knight LLP on

Public companies should be mindful not to interfere with or retaliate against whistleblowers, and stretching is best reserved for the yoga mat, not the numbers in a company's public disclosures. So says the U.S. Securities...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Los Angeles Initiative Seeks to Impose $450,000 Cap on Annual Compensation of Executives in Health Care Facilities

The Los Angeles City Council will soon decide whether to adopt an initiative as an ordinance or refer it to voters for the 2024 ballot. If the initiative officially qualifies for the ballot, the Los Angeles City Council...more

Saul Ewing LLP

SEC Continues to Fine Companies that Discourage Whistleblowers

Saul Ewing LLP on

The SEC recently slapped two companies with sizeable fines for allegedly impeding potential whistleblowers from communicating with the agency in violation of Rule 21F-17. These fines, coupled with the SEC’s recent enforcement...more

Saul Ewing LLP

What Contract? Despite Confidentiality Agreement, Employee Can Use Confidential Information in Public Whistleblower Lawsuit

Saul Ewing LLP on

A federal court recently ruled that an employee may use his employer’s confidential information in a whistleblower retaliation complaint, regardless of whether an employment confidentiality agreement prohibited him from doing...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

SEC Continues Crackdown on Employer Whistleblower Restrictions

Takeaways: - SEC is targeting contract terms that appear to restrict contact with the SEC or require employee whistleblowers to waive monetary recoveries. - Express disclosure of these rights in severance...more

WilmerHale

SEC Settles Two More Whistleblower Protection Cases

WilmerHale on

Continuing its efforts to bring enforcement actions for violations of whistleblower protections, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently settled two more cases. Both cases involved severance agreements that contained...more

Perkins Coie

Recent Whistleblower Protection Actions by SEC and Congress Add Risk to Severance Agreements

Perkins Coie on

Two recent SEC enforcement actions that describe how severance agreements may violate whistleblower protections under the federal securities laws if not properly drafted were the subject of a recent article by Perkins Coie...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

OCIE Staff to Examine Registered Advisers' Policies and Agreements for Whistleblower Rule Compliance

Proskauer Rose LLP on

On October 24, 2016, OCIE published a risk alert noting that the SEC exam staff intends to examine registrants' compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act's whistleblower provisions. The alert noted recent enforcement actions...more

Stinson LLP

Emerging Trends Newsletter - Q3

Stinson LLP on

We are thrilled to bring you the third installment of Stinson Leonard Street's Emerging Trends newsletter. We are proud of the depth and breadth of experience and knowledge across our firm's 13 offices nationwide and are...more

WilmerHale

New SEC Settlements Show Continued Focus on Whistleblower Protection and Severance Agreements

WilmerHale on

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to pursue enforcement actions against companies for whistleblower-related violations. The latest in a recent string of settled orders, which include the SEC's first case...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Review of Recent Whistleblower Developments

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SEC Brings First Stand-Alone Whistleblower Retaliation Enforcement Action - On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought its first stand-alone whistleblower retaliation case under...more

Baker Donelson

Small Business Securities Bulletin: Standard Confidentiality Provisions May Be Prohibited "Pretaliation" in Eyes of SEC

Baker Donelson on

As we discussed in our June 2011 Bulletin, available here, SEC rules promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), pursuant to Section 21F thereunder as enacted by the Dodd-Frank Wall...more

WilmerHale

SEC Settlements Put Severance Agreements Under Increased Scrutiny

WilmerHale on

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced settlements with two companies for using severance agreements that allegedly violated Rule 21F-17. [Order Instituting Cease-And-Desist Proceedings, In the Matter...more

Polsinelli

SEC Takes Aim at Anti-Whistleblower Employment Agreements

Polsinelli on

On Aug. 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued its second fine in six days to an employer for drafting severance agreements that restricted former employees from collecting awards as whistleblowers. The fines...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

The SEC Continues to Limit Language in Employment-Related Contracts

In orders issued just six days apart last month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected language in severance agreements requiring employees to waive rights to receive additional monetary recovery,...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Corporate Investigations and White Collar Defense - August 2016

Spotlight on the False Claims Act - Why it matters: This month, we review a recent Ninth Circuit case that allowed a qui tam relator’s action against various Medicare Advantage organizations to proceed, holding that the...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

Recent SEC Enforcement Actions Prompt Consideration of Whistleblower Carve-outs

The recent settlement of SEC enforcement actions concerning the Dodd Frank Act’s whistleblower provisions are prompting companies and their counsels to evaluate current and prospective severance and confidentiality agreements...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Bridging the Week - August 2016 #3

Another Publicly Traded Firm Sanctioned by SEC For Allegedly Undercutting Whistleblower Protections Through Severance Agreements: Health Net, Inc., a formerly publicly traded company whose securities were registered with the...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Companies Should Revisit Severance and Other Agreements as the SEC Steps Up Enforcement Actions to Protect Whistleblower Rights

Womble Bond Dickinson on

In less than one week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced enforcement actions against two companies that had required their departing employees to waive their rights to any monetary recovery under the...more

Goodwin

Update: Another SEC Enforcement Action on Whistleblower Waivers and Releases

Goodwin on

Summary - Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its second significant enforcement action against an employer based on confidentiality and release provisions that the SEC asserts...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SEC Targets Employment Agreements Requiring Waiver of Whistleblower Awards

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower continues to examine employee severance, settlement and confidentiality agreements for language that might chill reporting of securities violations to the SEC and other regulators. The...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Public Companies to Revise Employee Confidentiality and Severance Provisions

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued two Cease and Desist Orders that dramatically change the landscape for employee contractual confidentiality provisions, as well as for employee waiver and release...more

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