On April 30, 2021, in National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians, 370 NLRB No. 114 (2021), the Board declined to opine on the validity of President Biden’s termination of former General Counsel Peter Robb and...more
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 January 13, 2021, a New York whistleblower attorney filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a recent final rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission...more
On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a noteworthy decision in Lemon v. Myers Bigel, P.A., No. 19-1380, 2021 WL 161978 (4th Cir. 2021), affirming a decision by the Eastern District of...more
On January 14, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) approved a formal opinion letter clarifying that non-U.S. citizen employees of American employers working outside the United States need not be...more
As we have often discussed, there is a fine line between protected and unprotected activity. Profane outbursts, deliberate misconduct, or highly-disruptive strikes may fall outside the protection of the NLRA, subjecting...more
12/15/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Offensive Language ,
Protected Concerted Activity
On November 24, 2020, the Board held that a high-level executive’s tweet violated Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA by interfering with or restraining employees’ protected, concerted activity....more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently released its 2020 Annual Report on the status of its whistleblower program for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2020....more
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 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 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 9, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a $6 million whistleblower award to an individual under its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. The individual was rewarded for voluntarily...more
On May 19, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a memorandum updating previous guidance regarding employers’ obligation to record cases of COVID-19 in the workplace. On...more
One area of controversy over the years is the NLRB’s attempt to interpret markings on representation ballots that are not clearly “yes” or “no.” This has given rise to a number of tests for divining voter intent. Overruling...more
The Board continues to issue decisions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, while acknowledging that business operations around the country are far from “business as usual.” The agency is up and running. Representation elections...more
On April 10, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued guidance clarifying certain employers’ recording requirements regarding cases of COVID-19. Under the new guidance,...more
In the past, we frequently have discussed protected activity and how an employee’s profane outburst or deliberate conduct may render otherwise protected activity, “unprotected.” However, as this recently issued decision...more
On February 28, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a former chief marketing officer’s claim of whistleblower retaliation under the Dodd Frank Act. Cellucci v. O’Leary No. 19-cv-02752...more
On March 27, 2020, NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb issued Memorandum GC-20-04 to provide guidance to NLRB regional offices and the general public.
Acknowledging that “we are [currently] in an unprecedented situation,” the...more
On March 19, 2020, the NLRB announced that it was suspending all representation elections through April 3, 2020. The Board stated that the suspension was necessary to ensure the safety of its own employees, as well as those...more
Although, like everyone else, the personnel at the NLRB have been consumed with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily operations, including the ability of its Regional Offices to function and serve the public, the...more