Will the Supreme Court dial back whistleblower protection?
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday seemed reluctant to broaden whistleblower protection for corporate whistleblowers.
SEC announces $1.9 million whistleblower reward
A whistleblower reward of $1.9 million will be paid to a whistleblower who provided information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the agency announced today. While keeping the details secret, the SEC revealed that the information received resulted…
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Dodd-Frank Act, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, whistleblower attorney, whistleblower reward
SEC doles out first award during Trump era; but is whistleblower program in trouble
In late April, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued its first whistleblower award during the Trump administration, awarding almost $4 million to an individual that the SEC said provided the agency with original information that led to the successful…
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Dodd-Frank Act, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Whistleblower, Whistleblower award
9th Cir. widens circuit split over Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections
A recent decision from the 9th Circuit has served to widen the circuit split over whether Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation protections should protect internal whistleblowers. In early March, a split 9th Circuit panel found in favor of extending Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation protections to…
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Dodd-Frank Act, Retaliation, Whistleblower, Whistleblower protection
$20M award adds to historic SEC total
Earlier this week, the SEC announced a more than $20 million whistleblower award “to a whistleblower who promptly came forward with valuable information that enabled the SEC to move quickly and initiate an enforcement action against wrongdoers before they could…
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Dodd-Frank Act, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Whistleblower, Whistleblower award
SEC settles first stand-alone retaliation enforcement action
Late in September, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower brought its second stand-alone whistleblower retaliation enforcement action against International Game Technology (“IGT”) over allegations that the company fired “an employee with several years of positive performance reviews because [the employee]…
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Dodd-Frank Act, Retaliation, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, workplace retaliation
Monsanto whistleblower gets $22M award
At the end of last month, the SEC announced “the award of more than $22 million to a whistleblower whose detailed tip and extensive assistance helped” the SEC bring to an end a “well-hidden” fraud at Monsanto where the whistleblower…
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Dodd-Frank Act, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Whistleblower award, Whistleblower protection
Pretaliation severance agreements a no-no
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has recently reiterated its stance against problematic pretaliation severance agreements that attempt to require outgoing employees to waive their rights to recover a whistleblower bounty or to bring a qui tam action against his…
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SOX and “reasonable beliefs”
In a recent decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, future potential whistleblowers alleging retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) may have found an easier path to proceed with their claims. The Eighth Circuit’s opinion in Beacom v….
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SEC whistleblower awards trending up
In May 2016 alone, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) paid approximately $10 million in whistleblower awards. These frequent and ever-increasing awards should serve as a stern notice to in-house counsel and compliance personnel alike that SEC whistleblower awards may…
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Dodd-Frank Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission