News & Analysis as of

Whistleblower Awards Severance Agreements

Holland & Knight LLP

SEC to Issuers: Retaliating Against or Impeding Whistleblowers Is Not Zen

Holland & Knight LLP on

Public companies should be mindful not to interfere with or retaliate against whistleblowers, and stretching is best reserved for the yoga mat, not the numbers in a company's public disclosures. So says the U.S. Securities...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

Snell & Wilmer

The SEC Continues to Impose Fines and Other Penalties on Companies Based Solely on the Content of Their Standard Corporate...

Snell & Wilmer on

In August 2016, we highlighted that companies may want to review the content of their standard severance agreements, settlement agreements, confidentiality agreements and similar documents in light of an unprecedented...more

Baker Donelson

SEC, FINRA and the DOL Take Aim at Confidentiality Provisions in Firm Agreements

Baker Donelson on

On October 24, 2016, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released an alert examining whistleblower rule compliance and the use of...more

Brooks Pierce

SEC Smacks Another Company for Impeding Whistleblowers by Prohibiting Monetary Awards

Brooks Pierce on

As we discussed, in early August the SEC sued BlueLinx Holdings, Inc. for violations of Rule 21F-17(a) for the way it structured its severance agreements to prevent departing employees from collecting monetary awards if they...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Review of Recent Whistleblower Developments

Foley & Lardner LLP on

SEC Brings First Stand-Alone Whistleblower Retaliation Enforcement Action - On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought its first stand-alone whistleblower retaliation case under...more

Littler

OSHA Joins the SEC in Attacking Confidentiality and Other Provisions in Private Settlement Agreements

Littler on

On September 15, 2016, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released new policy guidelines for its review of private settlement agreements presented to the agency for approval in whistleblowing...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

The SEC Continues to Limit Language in Employment-Related Contracts

In orders issued just six days apart last month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected language in severance agreements requiring employees to waive rights to receive additional monetary recovery,...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

Recent SEC Enforcement Actions Prompt Consideration of Whistleblower Carve-outs

The recent settlement of SEC enforcement actions concerning the Dodd Frank Act’s whistleblower provisions are prompting companies and their counsels to evaluate current and prospective severance and confidentiality agreements...more

Blank Rome LLP

Time to Review Your Severance Agreements

Blank Rome LLP on

In August 2016, the SEC issued cease-and-desist orders against two different companies for using severance agreements which required exiting employees to waive their ability to obtain monetary awards under the SEC’s...more

Goodwin

Update: Another SEC Enforcement Action on Whistleblower Waivers and Releases

Goodwin on

Summary - Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its second significant enforcement action against an employer based on confidentiality and release provisions that the SEC asserts...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SEC Targets Employment Agreements Requiring Waiver of Whistleblower Awards

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower continues to examine employee severance, settlement and confidentiality agreements for language that might chill reporting of securities violations to the SEC and other regulators. The...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Public Companies to Revise Employee Confidentiality and Severance Provisions

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued two Cease and Desist Orders that dramatically change the landscape for employee contractual confidentiality provisions, as well as for employee waiver and release...more

Snell & Wilmer

Standard Severance Agreements May Need to Be Revised

Snell & Wilmer on

Many employers offer severance agreements to departing employees which, at least in part, are designed to protect the employer from disclosures of confidential information and from any future claims or recovery by the...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Continues To Scrutinize Separation Agreements

On August 16, 2016, the SEC announced that Health Net Inc. (Company) agreed to pay a $340,000 penalty to settle charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by using severance agreements that allegedly prohibited its employees from...more

Dechert LLP

SEC Continues to Target Employer Agreements Restricting Whistleblower Rights

Dechert LLP on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) recently announced the settlement of two cease-and-desist proceedings against employers alleged to have unlawfully restricted employees’ rights to engage...more

Allen Matkins

How Much Is A Whistleblower Waiver Really Worth?

Allen Matkins on

The Securities and Exchange Commission is aggressively interpreting and enforcing its rule against impeding whistleblowers. Rule 21F-17(a) provides...more

Burr & Forman

SEC Continues Crackdown on Whistleblower Restrictions: Calls Qui Tam Waivers "Targeting"

Burr & Forman on

The SEC announced its second enforcement action in a week against a company using severance or confidentiality agreements requiring employees to waive whistleblower bounties or their right to bring a qui tam action....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

SEC Fines Companies for Anti-Whistleblower Language in Severance Agreements

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced the settlement of two proceedings regarding the SEC’s whistleblower protection framework, resulting in over $500,000 in penalties. Both of the companies were charged...more

WilmerHale

SEC Settlements Put Severance Agreements Under Increased Scrutiny

WilmerHale on

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced settlements with two companies for using severance agreements that allegedly violated Rule 21F-17. Rule 21F-17 provides that “[n]o person may take any action...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Public Company Sanctioned by SEC for Including Illegal Anti-Whistleblower Provisions in Severance Agreements

In a speech on April 30, 2015. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mary Jo White noted that... ...more

Allen Matkins

A Whistleblower Isn’t Impeded By The Want Of A Reward

Allen Matkins on

Quite some time ago, I fabulated that airline delays might constitute a violation of Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 21F-17. That rule provides that no person “may take any action to impede an individual from...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

Saul Ewing LLP

Company Pays Penalty for Requiring Outgoing Employees to Forego Potential Whistleblower Awards

Saul Ewing LLP on

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it had levied a $265,000 penalty against an Atlanta-based company, claiming the company’s severance agreements undercut its whistleblower program. By signing the...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

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