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 May 29, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama granted a motion to dismiss in part Plaintiff’s whistleblower retaliation claims under SOX on the grounds that the Plaintiff failed to exhaust his...more
The ARB recently affirmed a motion for summary decision against a Complainant claiming retaliatory discharge under SOX, finding that he failed to demonstrate that he engaged in protected activity and that the Company would...more
On April 23, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that a plaintiff’s SOX claim precluded his claim for common law retaliatory discharge. Cohen v. Power Solutions International, Inc., No....more
On February 22, 2018, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment against a Plaintiff who claimed that his employment was terminated in violation of the SOX whistleblower...more
3/1/2018
/ Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Email ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Insider Trading ,
Protected Activity ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Reversal ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Summary Judgment ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On February 12, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi recently denied a motion for summary judgment in a SOX whistleblower claim where the defendant company alleged that it terminated...more
On October 17, 2017, the Tenth Circuit overturned the ARB’s decision in favor of complainant for want of protected activity under SOX. Dietz v. Cypress Semiconductor Corp., No. 16-9529 (Oct. 17, 2017). This decision rolled...more
10/27/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review Board ,
Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Mail Fraud ,
Offer Letters ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Deductions ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wire Fraud
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
The Northern District of Illinois recently dismissed an Indiana-based employee’s claims for retaliatory discharge in violation of common law, focusing on the nature of the connection (or lack thereof) to Illinois and noting...more
8/16/2017
/ Common Law Claims ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Whistleblowers
The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a grant of summary judgment in an employer’s favor, dismissing a SOX and Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation case based on the plaintiff’s lack of an objectively reasonable belief of...more
8/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Objective Unreasonableness Standard ,
OFCCP ,
Reaffirmation ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Fraud ,
Summary Judgment ,
Whistleblowers
On April 12, 2017, the Third Circuit partially revived a former in-house attorney’s whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against his previous employer. Danon v. Vanguard Group, Inc., No. 16-cv-2881....more
4/19/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Remand ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State False Claims Acts ,
Vacated ,
Whistleblowers
On February 1, 2016, the Northern District of Indiana ruled in a case brought under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) that whether a whistleblower has fulfilled relevant administrative requirements prior to filing suit...more
3/30/2017
/ Administrative Remedies ,
Affirmative Defenses ,
Burden of Proof ,
Exhaustion Doctrine ,
Federal Railroad Safety Act ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(1) ,
OSHA ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Whistleblowers
On March 1, 2017, the District of Maryland dismissed a Dodd Frank whistleblower retaliation claim because the plaintiff failed to allege that he had complained directly to the SEC about a violation of securities laws, and...more
In one of the first cases to address the standard governing a motion for summary judgment in a Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation case, Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that two former executives of Vista Outdoor Inc. (the...more
An ALJ at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently ruled that a former CFO was entitled to approximately $1.9 million in back pay, front pay, and compensatory damages, concluding that he was retaliated against in violation...more
12/9/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Back Pay ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBITDA ,
Fraud ,
Front Pay ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Whistleblowers
In Westawski v. Merck & Co., No. 14-cv-3239 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 18, 2016), the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted Defendant Merck & Co. (Company) summary judgment on Plaintiff Joni Westawski’s (Plaintiff) SOX whistleblower...more
10/31/2016
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fraud ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Controls ,
Mail Fraud ,
Market Research ,
Merck ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wire Fraud
On September 27, 2016, Proskauer Partner Steven J. Pearlman, co-head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Practice Group, participated in a Bloomberg webinar with Jane Norberg, Acting Chief of the SEC Office of the...more
9/30/2016
/ Best Practices ,
Confidential Information ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FOIA ,
Internal Investigations ,
OSHA ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Webinars ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
A California Magistrate Judge in BofI Federal Bank v. Erhart ruled that a whistleblower’s attorney’s communications sent to federal regulators were protected by the attorney work product doctrine. No. 15-cv-2353 (S.D. Cal....more
9/29/2016
/ Abandonment ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Common-Interest Privilege ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OCC ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Termination ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Whistleblowers ,
Work-Product Doctrine
On August 24, 2016, the Southern District of New York denied Defendants’ motion to dismiss a Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claim brought by its former co-CEO and Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors, finding...more
9/26/2016
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Form 10-K ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Misrepresentation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Termination ,
Whistleblowers
On August 25, 2016, the Eastern District of Wisconsin granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment on its former CEO’s SOX whistleblower claim. The court ruled that Plaintiff’s complaint to the Board of Directors did...more
On June 22, 2016, Judge Daniels of the Southern District of New York dismissed SOX and Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims, ruling that Plaintiff’s alleged internal complaints did not constitute protected activity, as they did...more
6/29/2016
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employee Transfers ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Internal Reporting ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblowers
On June 6, 2016, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the Minnesota District Court’s grant of summary judgment on SOX and Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claims based on the plaintiff’s failure to establish a reasonable belief...more
6/14/2016
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Objective Unreasonableness Standard ,
Oracle ,
Popular ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Fraud ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Whistleblowers
On May 20, 2016, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision of the ARB, finding that a former employee of Deltek, Inc. (Company) was retaliated against in violation of Section 806 of SOX and entitled to four years’ worth of...more
5/24/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review Board ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Front Pay ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Termination ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
The ARB recently concluded that a former program manager was entitled to recover more than $250,000 in back pay and benefits under Section 806 of SOX based on his discipline and constructive discharge. The ARB clarified that...more
4/15/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review Board ,
Back Pay ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Discipline ,
Fraud ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Wage Deductions ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers