News & Analysis as of

Employment Contract Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

WilmerHale

SEC Continues Scrutiny of Provisions That Might Impede Whistleblowers

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On September 9, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges against seven public companies for violations of certain whistleblower protections provided by Rule 21F-17 under the Securities...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Are Whistleblower Protection Violations the New SEC Sweep?

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to investigate companies for including language in their employment and separation agreements or retail client settlement agreements that potentially discourages...more

BakerHostetler

Employers Beware: Broad Confidentiality and Severance Clauses May Violate Whistleblower Protection Laws

BakerHostetler on

Employers should check their confidentiality and severance agreements for a common oversight that, for some, is becoming a costly error. Recent enforcement activity by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Rule...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Jingle All the Way to the SEC: Employers (Even Privately Held) Under Scrutiny for Language in Separation Agreements Impeding SEC...

While jingle bells have only just begun to ring, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement bells have been ringing steadily throughout year. In recent months, the SEC announced significant settlements with...more

Troutman Pepper

Top 10 Tips for Drafting Whistleblower Compliant Arrangements

Troutman Pepper on

Background - Under Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Congress expanded protections for whistleblowers reporting possible violations of federal securities laws to the...more

Thomas Fox - Compliance Evangelist

Pre-Taliation Continues to Rear It’s Ugly Head

DE Shaw, a prominent financial services firm, recently settled a retaliation case with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a staggering $10 million. It was settled via an Administrative Order. This settlement...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

The SEC Blows the Whistle on Improper Confidentiality Provisions

On Friday, September 29, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease and desist and $10 million civil money penalty against D.E. Shaw & Co, L.P. (“DESCO”). DESCO is a registered investment advisor...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Overview of President Biden’s Non-Compete Agreement Executive Order 

On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. The Order, breathtaking in scope, asserts as a key goal the desire to improve the lives of consumers through...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

SEC Finds Employee Manual Violates Dodd-Frank

In a recently settled SEC enforcement action, the defendant asked employees to sign an acknowledgement, upon hire and on an annual basis, that they had received, read, and would adhere to the defendant’s employee manual. ...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

SEC Grants Eligibility Waiver to Issue Whistleblower Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently awarded $3 million to joint whistleblowers despite concluding that the whistleblowers did not satisfy the technical eligibility requirements for receiving an award. See...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

[Podcast]: Key Contractual Provisions for Employers to Incorporate in Documents with Confidentiality Covenants

In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, Kate Napalkova, special employee benefits and executive compensation counsel, and associate Oleg Zakatov discuss potential pitfalls that lurk in employment agreements and other employee...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

2017-18 Supreme Court Update

In the 2017-18 term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a number of potentially significant disputes relevant to businesses, including those involving constitutional protections, class actions and other corporate liability...more

NAVEX

Why You Shouldn’t Relax on Pretaliation—Even if Policymakers Do

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About two years ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made history when it brought the first “pretaliation” whistleblower enforcement action against KBR Inc., a technology and engineering firm in Houston. The...more

NAVEX

Modern Whistleblower Retaliation Risk Require a Modern Framework

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If compliance officers ever needed one more sign about the importance of anti-retaliation programs, it arrived on September 29, 2016. On that day, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC ) fined a company that makes...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Employment Law - August 2016

Arbitrator or Judge? California Supreme Court Weighs in - Why it matters - Yet again, the California Supreme Court considered arbitration in the context of an employment agreement, this time reflecting on whether a...more

Proskauer - The Capital Commitment

SEC Whistleblower Enforcement Settlement Reminds Private Fund Sponsors to Review Organizational Policies and Procedures for...

A recent SEC settlement of whistleblower charges should serve as a useful reminder for private fund sponsors to conduct a comprehensive review of their policies and procedures. On August 10, 2016, the SEC announced that...more

Burr & Forman

SEC Fines Company for Agreements Restricting Whistleblowers

Burr & Forman on

The SEC has fined an Atlanta company $265,000 for using various severance agreements restricting whistleblower activities. The Dodd-Frank Act added ’34 Act § 21F encouraging whistleblower programs....more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

SEC Bounty Hunters Take Heart: SEC Fines Company $265,000 for Using Severance Agreements That Provided a Waiver of any Monetary...

Wednesday, the SEC announced that an Atlanta-based company, BlueLinx Holdings, is settling charges that its severance agreements contained provisions that in its view might impede employees from communicating directly with...more

Carlton Fields

The Chill is Gone: SEC Wants Unfettered Whistleblowers

Carlton Fields on

The SEC continues its efforts to support whistleblowers. The whistleblower program promulgated by the Commission under the Dodd-Frank Act offers rewards to individuals who report securities law violations. As we have...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Corporate Investigations & White Collar Defense - August 2015

Are the Circuits A-Splitting? The Ninth Circuit Declines to Follow the Second Circuit's Insider Trading Decision in U.S. v. Newman - Why it matters: On July 6, 2015, the Ninth Circuit in U.S. v. Salman declined to...more

Allen Matkins

SEC Clawback Proposal Overlooks Contract Law Fundamentals

Allen Matkins on

In proposing the clawback rules for stock exchanges mandated by Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission evinces little regard for contrary...more

Allen Matkins

Is Anything Fishy With The SEC’s Whistleblower Inquiries?

Allen Matkins on

Yesterday, Rachel Louise Ensign of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the SEC recently sent letters “to a number of companies asking for years of nondisclosure agreements, employment contracts and other documents”.  According...more

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation

Third Circuit Issues First Appellate Decision Compelling Arbitration of Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Claim

In Khazin v. TD Ameritrade, No. 14-1689, 2014 WL 6871393 (3rd Cir. Dec. 8, 2014), the Third Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision compelling arbitration of a Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claim. This is the first...more

NAVEX

SEC’s 2014 Report on Dodd-Frank Whistleblowing Program: Key Takeaways and Trends Companies Should Expect for 2015

NAVEX on

On November 17, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued its 2014 Annual Report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program and it is clear that the program is going strong. Following are six key takeaways...more

Carlton Fields

Dodd-Frank Does Not Bar Arbitration Of Claims If Arbitration Agreement Does Not Exempt Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Claims

Carlton Fields on

The Fourth Circuit affirmed order from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia compelling arbitration of former employee’s federal claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA),...more

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