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
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
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 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
On May 20, 2016, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision of the ARB, finding that a former employee of Deltek, Inc. (Company) was retaliated against in violation of Section 806 of SOX and entitled to four years’ worth of...more
5/24/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review Board ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Front Pay ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Termination ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
OSHA recently released its final rule implementing the whistleblower provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (“CFPA”). The following are the key features of the rule...more
3/23/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review Board ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
OSHA ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
On February 18, 2016, the ARB dismissed a former employee’s whistleblower retaliation claim under Section 806 of SOX, concluding that he failed to show that his protected activity contributed to the decision to terminate his...more
On February 12, 2016, the Ninth Circuit rejected a former maintenance manger’s whistleblower retaliation claims under the Energy Reorganization Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5851 (“ERA”), concluding that he failed to engage in in a...more
On February 2, 2016, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the SOX whistleblower retaliation claim in the closely watched case of Weist v. Tyco Electronics Corp., No. 15-2034. We have posted on key events during the...more
In Wallace v. Tesoro Corp., the Fifth Circuit revived a SOX whistleblower complaint that was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, finding that the plaintiff’s alleged belief that the company...more
8/12/2015
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
GAAP ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
OSHA ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wire Fraud
Wednesday, the SEC announced that it would pay an unidentified compliance officer a whistleblower bounty award of between $1.4 and $1.6 million. This is the second award that the SEC has made to a whistleblower with internal...more
In Diego v. Pilgrim United Church of Christ, — Cal.Rptr.3d —-, 2014 WL 6602601 (Cal. App. 4 Dist.), the California Court of Appeal determined that Cecilia Diego (Plaintiff) could pursue a common law public policy retaliation...more
On November 12, 2014, in Halliburton, Inc. v. Admin. Review Bd., 5th Cir. No. 13-cv-60323, the Fifth Circuit affirmed an ARB’s decision that disclosing the identity of a whistleblower may constitute an “adverse action” under...more
In a case of first impression within the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the whistleblower protection provision in Dodd-Frank protects whistleblowers who report...more
The ARB upheld a damages award in favor of a whistleblower after his former employer purportedly “blacklisted” him by providing an apparently negative employment reference to a prospective employer. Timmons v. CRST Dedicated...more
10/16/2014
/ Blacklist ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Former Employee ,
Reference Checks ,
Retaliation ,
Trucking Industry ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Hazards
On August 8, 2014, the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a SOX whistleblower retaliation claim brought by a former AECOM Technology Corp. (“Company”) employee, holding that he did not engage in protected activity...more
In what appears to be an alarming trend for employers, the Chicago Tribune recently reported that a former Chicago State University employee was awarded $3 million after a Cook County, Illinois jury found that the University...more
On March 5, 2014, a California jury awarded $6 million to a former accounting executive at Playboy Enterprises Inc. (the “Company”), finding that the Company discharged the former employee in violation of Section 806 of SOX....more
The ARB recently affirmed an ALJ’s decision that American Commercial Lines Inc. (the “Company”) did not violate the whistleblower protection provision in Section 806 of SOX where the Company demonstrated by clear and...more