Author Info for Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Noa Baddish

U.S. Supreme Court To Review Scope Of “Whistleblower” Under Dodd-Frank

On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether individuals who do not report alleged securities law violations to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are “whistleblowers” protected by the…more

Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Certiorari, Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers, Dodd-Frank, Internal Reporting

See all updates »

Hayden Bashinski

CA District Court: SOX and Dodd-Frank’s Whistleblower Provisions Do Not Apply To Individual Employed Abroad

On June 7, 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, relying on recent ARB decisions, held that a plaintiff who lived and worked for a Canadian subsidiary of a US company could not avail…more

Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Corporate Counsel, Dodd-Frank, Extraterritoriality Rules, Foreign Workers

See all updates »

Guy Brenner

Eleventh Circuit Limits Scope of FCA Whistleblower Suit

Late last month, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated portions of a former executive’s False Claims Act (“FCA”) whistleblower action against Health Management Associates Inc. (“HMA”), alleging…more

Appeals, False Claims Act (FCA), Health Care Providers, Healthcare Facilities, Medicaid

See all updates »

Ariel Brotman

DC Circuit: SOX’s Anti-Retaliation Provision Does Not Apply Extraterritorially

As we previously reported, on February 13, 2020, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the Department of Labor (DOL) dismissed a former in-house attorney’s whistleblower claims because he worked entirely outside of the United…more

Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Corporate Counsel, Department of Labor (DOL), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

See all updates »

Lloyd Chinn

Texas District Court Grants Summary Judgment on SOX Whistleblower Counterclaim

On August 6, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted an employer’s motion for summary judgment on a SOX whistleblower retaliation counterclaim, holding that the former employee failed to…more

Breach of Confidence, Retaliation, Summary Judgment, Texas, Whistleblowers

See all updates »

E. Sydney Cone

Tenth Circuit Affirms $1 Million Jury Award to Whistleblower

On July 20, 2022, the Tenth Circuit affirmed a $1 million jury award to a former employee who claimed he was demoted in retaliation for reporting that his supervisor instructed him to falsify test results on a program used by…more

Appeals, Causation, Motion for Judgment, Retaliation, Whistleblower Awards

See all updates »

Laura Fant

OSHA Issues New Guidance Regarding Whistleblower Settlements

OSHA has issued new guidance on approving settlement agreements in whistleblower cases, revising portions of its Whistleblower Investigations Manual. The guidance, dated August 23 but not released until September 15, states…more

OSHA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Settlement Agreements, Whistleblower Awards

See all updates »

Rachel Fischer

CFTC Issues Second Whistleblower Award To The Tune Of $290,000

On September 29, 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it will make its second award as part of its whistleblower program, which was created by Dodd-Frank. The tipster will receive a bounty…more

CFTC, Dodd-Frank, Enforcement Actions, Whistleblower Awards, Whistleblowers

See all updates »

Jordan Glassberg

CA Federal Court Dismisses Whistleblower Claims After Bench Trial

On July 26, 2021, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California held, after a bench trial, that Plaintiff Botta failed to prove that Defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) terminated his…more

Accounting Fraud, Employer Liability Issues, Hiring & Firing, Internal Controls, PricewaterhouseCoopers

See all updates »

David Gobel

Ninth Circuit Takes Broad View of Protected Activity under the California Whistleblower Protection Act

On October 20, 2022, the Ninth Circuit reversed in part a grant of summary judgment in favor of an employer, finding that the district court misapplied the substantive law of California in holding that Plaintiff’s disclosures to…more

CA Supreme Court, California, Corporate Counsel, Federal Contractors, NEPA

See all updates »

Pinchos Goldberg

SEC Announces Slew of Enforcement Actions Regarding Whistleblower Protection Rule

The SEC recently announced the settlement of multiple enforcement actions for violations of its whistleblower protection rule, which prohibits “any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission…more

Cease and Desist Orders, Civil Monetary Penalty, Confidentiality Policies, Corporate Counsel, Enforcement Actions

See all updates »

Yonatan Grossman-Boder

SEC Issues $5.5 Million Whistleblower Award

On January 6, 2017, the SEC announced the first whistleblower award this year. The award of approximately $5.5 million, comes almost exactly a month after the SEC issued two awards totaling over $4.4 million…more

Dodd-Frank, Enforcement Actions, Financial Institutions, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Securities Violations

See all updates »

Mee Kim

July 2021 Update of the SEC’s Covered Actions for Potential Whistleblower Claims

On July 30, 2021, the SEC posted 14 Notices of Covered Actions, after which individuals have 90 calendar days to apply for a whistleblower award. As discussed in our prior post, the SEC publishes these Notices for cases in…more

Breach of Duty, Corporate Misconduct, Criminal Investigations, Enforcement Actions, False Statements

See all updates »

Arielle Kobetz

ARB Rejects SOX Claim Due to Complainant’s Harassment

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 have…more

Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), Administrative Review Board, Employee Misconduct, OSHA, Protected Activity

See all updates »

Philippe Lebel

House Financial Services Committee Passes Bill to Expand Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Protection to Internal Whistleblowers

On May 8, 2019, the House Committee on Financial Services passed H.R. 2515, the Whistleblower Protection Reform Act of 2019, which would amend Section 922 of Dodd-Frank to extend the statute’s anti-retaliation protections to…more

Amended Legislation, Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Dodd-Frank, Financial Services Committee, Internal Reporting

See all updates »

Allison Lynn Martin

ARB: SOX Whistleblower Provision Does Not Apply Extraterritorially

In a pair of recently issued decisions, the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) held that Sarbanes Oxley’s anti-retaliation provision does not apply extraterritorially. Hu v. PTC, Inc., ARB Case No. 2017-0068…more

Administrative Review Board, Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Department of Labor (DOL), Employment Contract, Extraterritoriality Rules

See all updates »

Tony Martinez

COVID-19 Whistleblower Protection Bill Introduced Into Congress

On June 15, 2020, Senator Kamala Harris and Representatives Jackie Speier and Jamie Raskin introduced the COVID-19 Whistleblower Protection Act (the “Act”), which seeks to provide protections for employees who blow the whistle…more

Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Arbitration Agreements, CARES Act, Coronavirus/COVID-19, Department of Labor (DOL)

See all updates »

Susan McAleavey

Tennessee District Court: Dodd-Frank is Not a General Anti-Retaliation Law

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, noting…more

Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Dodd-Frank, Internal Reporting, Motion to Dismiss, Retaliation

See all updates »

Austin McLeod

SEC Issues More than $54 Million to Two Whistleblowers

On September 6, 2018, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower awarded $39 million to one whistleblower and $15 million to another. The $39 million award is the second-largest award in the history of the program, behind a $50 million…more

Adjudicatory Process, Dodd-Frank, Enforcement Actions, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Securities Violations

See all updates »

Kelly McMullon

New UK Regulations to Govern Whistleblowing in Financial Institutions

This month, the FCA and PRA announced a new regime for whistleblowing that will start to be phased in from March 2016. This is part of the broader desire on the part of the UK regulators to encourage individuals to raise…more

Best Practices, Board of Directors, Employee Handbooks, Employees, Employment Contract

See all updates »

Hannah Morris

DOJ Announces Development of a Pilot Whistleblower Rewards Program

On March 7, 2024, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) is creating a pilot whistleblower rewards program, which will be developed and implemented over the next 90 days, with a…more

CFTC, Corporate Governance, Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Pilot Programs, FEPA

See all updates »

Dixie Morrison

Florida District Court Limits Scope of Protected Activity under the FCA

On March 29, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida held that in order to engage in protected conduct under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), a plaintiff must specifically suspect that their employer has…more

Adverse Employment Action, False Billing, False Claims Act (FCA), Federal Contractors, Health Care Providers

See all updates »

Joseph O'Keefe

N.J. High Court Rules “Watchdog” Employees Protected Under State Whistleblower Law

On July 15, 2015, the Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that an employee who monitors corporate compliance—a so-called “watchdog” employee—can engage in protected activity by blowing the whistle under the New Jersey…more

Adverse Employment Action, CEPA, Compliance, Exceptions, Hiring & Firing

See all updates »

Melissa Overbeck

Ga. District Court Dismisses Dodd-Frank and SOX Whistleblower Claims

On September 30, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted an employer’s motion to dismiss a Dodd-Frank whistleblower claim on the ground that the alleged whistleblower did not complain to the…more

Administrative Complaints, Administrative Remedies, Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers

See all updates »

Steven Pearlman

SEC Announces Slew of Enforcement Actions Regarding Whistleblower Protection Rule

The SEC recently announced the settlement of multiple enforcement actions for violations of its whistleblower protection rule, which prohibits “any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission…more

Cease and Desist Orders, Civil Monetary Penalty, Confidentiality Policies, Corporate Counsel, Enforcement Actions

See all updates »

Morgan Peterson

CA Supreme Court: Contributing-Factor Standard Applies to Whistleblower Retaliation Claims

On January 27, 2022, the California Supreme Court settled an inconsistency that has divided the courts of appeal with respect to the proper evidentiary standard for whistleblower retaliation claims under California Labor Code…more

Anti-Retaliation Provisions, Burden-Shifting, California, Employer Liability Issues, Evidence

See all updates »

Seetha Ramachandran

U.S. Senate Unanimously Passes AML Whistleblower Improvement Act

On December 7, 2022, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to expand whistleblower incentives and strengthen whistleblower protections by passing the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act. The bill would bolster…more

Anti-Money Laundering, Proposed Legislation, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Whistleblower Awards, Whistleblower Protection Policies

See all updates »

Alexandra Rueckle Reynolds

SEC Files Suit Against Company For Allegedly Impeding Investors From Blowing the Whistle

On November 4, 2019, the SEC announced that it had filed an amended complaint against online auction portal Collectors Café and CEO Mykalai Kontilai, alleging Kontilai tried to prevent investors from communicating with the SEC…more

Amended Complaints, Dodd-Frank, False Statements, Misappropriation, Misleading Statements

See all updates »

Margo Richard

District of NJ: Federal Courts Lack Jurisdiction to Enforce Preliminary Reinstatement Orders Under SOX

On April 19, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted the defendant-employer’s motion to dismiss a complaint seeking court enforcement of a preliminary reinstatement order after determining that the…more

Employer Liability Issues, Employment Litigation, Enforcement, Lack of Jurisdiction, Motion to Dismiss

See all updates »

Abigail Rosenblum

CA District Court: Dodd Frank Whistleblower Provision Does Not Apply Extraterritorially

On June 28, 2021, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted the Company’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss after an executive claimed he was discharged in violation of the Dodd-Frank Act’s…more

Brazil, Department of Justice (DOJ), Dismissals, Dodd-Frank, Extraterritoriality Rules

See all updates »

Jurate Schwartz

Florida Private Sector Whistleblower Must Show Actual Violation of Law

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

Criminal Investigations, Florida, Fraud, Pharmacist, Prescription Drugs

See all updates »

Andrew Sherwood

Eleventh Circuit Affirms Rejection of Employee’s SOX Claim for Lack of Protected Activity

On September 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board’s rejection of an employee’s Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) retaliation claim, holding the…more

Appeals, Corporate Counsel, Employee Misconduct, OSHA, Retaliation

See all updates »

Shanice Smith-Banks

CFTC Releases FY 2023 Annual Report on its Whistleblower Program

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently released its statutorily mandated 2023 Annual Report detailing the status of its whistleblower program for the fiscal year ending on September 20, 2023. The CFTC’s…more

Annual Reports, CFTC, Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), Digital Assets, Dodd-Frank

See all updates »

Scott Tan

SDNY: Confidentiality Agreement Impeded Investors from Whistleblowing

On November 17, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a company and its CEO violated Rule 21F-17 of the Exchange Act by entering into confidentiality agreements with investors that…more

Confidentiality Agreements, Enforcement Actions, Investment, Investment Fraud, Investors

See all updates »

Edward Young

Ill. Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment on Whistleblower Retaliation Claims

On September 27, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a defendant-employer summary judgment on a whistleblower retaliation claim under the Illinois Whistleblower Act (“IWA”) and on a common…more

Adverse Employment Action, Common Law Torts, Employer Liability Issues, Employment Policies, Retaliation

See all updates »

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

"My best business intelligence,
in one easy email…"