The Southern District of New York recently dismissed Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claims brought by an employer’s ex-President and an ex-Director pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) on res judicata grounds, determining that...more
8/12/2017
/ Arbitration ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Res Judicata ,
Retaliation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
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 July 27, 2017, the SEC announced that it was paying a $1.7 million bounty award to a whistleblower, even though the whistleblower: (1) had some culpability in the fraud; (2) unreasonably delayed reporting the fraud; and...more
On July 25, 2017, the Third Circuit allowed a plaintiff who was an in-house attorney to proceed with a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) based on its...more
7/31/2017
/ Appeals ,
CEPA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Ethics ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Patents ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Rules of Professional Conduct ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently granted a Rule 12(b)(1) and (6) motion to dismiss a former employee’s complaint alleging retaliation under the Illinois Whistleblower Act (“IWA”). Huang...more
The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee recently emphasized the limited scope of what constitutes protected activity under the Dodd-Frank Act’s (the Act) whistleblower protection provision,...more
On June 7, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a whistleblower retaliation claim under the Dodd-Frank Act because the plaintiff failed to report his complaint of alleged securities...more
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
On February 28, 2017, in an Order almost entirely devoid of detail, the SEC announced that a whistleblower will receive 20% of any monetary sanctions collected in an enforcement action commenced as a result of the...more
The Southern District of Florida recently held that to establish a prima facie case under the Florida Private Whistleblower Act (FWA), § 448.102(3), Fla. Stat., a plaintiff must show an actual violation of a law, rule or...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
On January 13, 2017, OSHA published the Recommended Practices for Anti-Retaliation Programs. OSHA’s guidance provides examples and suggestions of steps companies can take to implement an effective anti-retaliation program. ...more
As noted in our previous post, in May 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), which establishes a federal cause of action for misappropriation of trade secrets into law. As part of its protections,...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 August 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched a new pilot program, titled “Expedited Case Processing Pilot,” in its Western region. The program enables a complainant filing claims under whistleblower...more
On August 10, 2016, the SEC announced that BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (Company) is settling charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by requiring outgoing employees to waive whistleblower bounty awards in connection with severance...more
8/12/2016
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Agencies ,
Penalties ,
Rule 21F ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Severance Agreements ,
Termination ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
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