News & Analysis as of

Whistleblowers Protected Activity Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Lathrop GPM

Lower Burden of Proof for Whistleblowers Established in Landmark Supreme Court Case

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Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC holding that whistleblowers are not required to prove their employer acted with “retaliatory intent” to be protected under...more

Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti,...

A “Plaintiff-Friendly” Standard For SOX Whistleblowers – A Helping Hand For FCA Relators?

On February 8, 2024, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC, No. 22-660 (U.S. 2024) restoring a $900K jury verdict in favor of a whistleblower under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)...more

Baker Donelson

U.S. Supreme Court Sides with SOX Whistleblower in Murray v. UBS Securities

Baker Donelson on

On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that an employee who blows the whistle under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) does not need to show that their employer had retaliatory intent to find...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Supreme Court Confirms Corporate Whistleblowers Don't Have to Prove Retaliatory Intent

Tackling the tricky issue of how a plaintiff proves an employer's “intent,” in an opinion issued today, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, corporate whistleblowers have...more

MoFo Employment Law Commentary (ELC)

Whistleblower Roundup - Cal. Labor Code Section 1102.5, SOX, And More

Each year seems to bring significant developments in whistleblower law, and 2023 has been no exception. As whistleblower activity increases, so, too, has the scope of its protections. From state to federal government, from...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Texas District Court Dismisses SOX Whistleblower Claim for Lack of Employer-Employee Relationship

On June 12, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted a motion to dismiss in favor of the defendant in a SOX whistleblower retaliation case, finding that the alleged whistleblower – a contractor...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

ARB: No Protected Activity where Employee Inadvertently Informed Employer and Only “Hinted” at Filing Whistleblower Complaint

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The DOL’s ARB rejected an employee’s SOX retaliation claim where he inadvertently provided information to his employer and only “hinted” that he was filing a SOX-protected complaint. The ARB seems unwilling...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Federal Court Allows SOX Whistleblower Claim To Proceed But Dismisses Dodd-Frank Claim

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

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

S.D.N.Y Dismisses Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Action

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

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

CPA Can’t be a Whistleblower for Non-Public Entities

Reyher v. Grant Thornton, LLP analyzed whether an employee of a CPA firm is protected by the anti-retaliation provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act for lodging complaints with an employer about suspected illegal activity regarding...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

California District Court Addresses Whistleblower’s Self-Help

In Erhart v. BofI Holding, Inc., Case No. 15-cv-02287, (S.D. Cal. Feb. 14, 2017), a bank’s internal auditor reported alleged misconduct to federal agencies, engaged in self-help discovery by appropriating the bank’s...more

BakerHostetler

DOL Joins SEC in Attack on Severance Agreement Clauses

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Companies cannot prohibit their former employees from collecting whistleblower awards, says the DOL in a recently released memo. Moreover, even asking employees to disclaim any knowledge of any legal violations by the...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

OSHA Addresses Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Releases

We have written about SEC enforcement actions related to severance and confidentiality agreements that restrict reporting matters to the SEC. OSHA has also issued guidance regarding settlement agreements with whistleblowers...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Review of Recent Whistleblower Developments

Foley & Lardner LLP on

SEC Awards Bounty to Whistleblower, But Offsets Award for a Judgment Against the Whistleblower - The extent to which the SEC would reward whistleblowers, who themselves engaged in wrongdoing, has been the subject of...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Intervenes In Former In-House Attorney’s Whistleblower Lawsuit

On March 28, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed an amicus brief in a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former in-house attorney against Vanguard Group (the “Company”).  The case is Danon v....more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Review of Recent Whistleblower Developments

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Second Circuit Splits from Fifth Circuit on Whistleblower SEC Reporting Obligations On September 10, 2015, the Second Circuit in Berman v. Neo@Ogilvy LLC, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 16071 (2d Cir. 2015), ruled that...more

Littler

Sixth Circuit Changes Course on Proof Required to Show Protected Whistleblower Activity Under SOX

Littler on

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) provides anti-retaliation protection to whistleblowers who engage in “protected activity.” To engage in protected activity under SOX, the whistleblower must provide information to the Securities...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

SEC Joins Agency Attack on Confidentiality Clauses in Employee-Related Agreements and Policies

In a recent enforcement action, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took action against a company for "using improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements with the potential to stifle the...more

Proskauer - Government Contractor Compliance...

Petition Urges DOL To Target Contractual Clauses Discouraging Whistleblowing

The Government Accountability Project (GAP) and Zuckerman Law recently petitioned the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) to issue rules and guidance prohibiting “de facto” gag clauses in settlement and severance agreements that...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Before The Whistle Blows: Understanding And Addressing The Expanding Scope Of Whistleblower Protections Under Sarbanes-Oxley And...

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”) was enacted following the accounting scandals of the early 2000s involving Enron, WorldCom and other public companies. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

District of Colorado Expansively Construes Protected Activity Under Dodd-Frank, But Finds No Causation

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado followed a trend of decisions concluding that a plaintiff need not have provided the SEC with information regarding alleged federal securities law violations to pursue a...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Third Circuit Lowers Bar For Determining Whether Internal Complaint Is SOX Protected Activity

In Wiest v. Lynch, No. 11-cv-4257, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 5345 (3d Cir. March 19, 2013), the Third Circuit gave Chevron deference to U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board’s (ARB) interpretation of “protected...more

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