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...more
9/12/2024
/ Cease and Desist Orders ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fines ,
Investment Adviser ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Separation Agreement ,
Settlement ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
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
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
On January 4, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a former bank executive’s whistleblower retaliation claims, holding that two procedural errors doomed his case: he sued before exhausting his administrative remedies;...more
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...more
11/3/2022
/ CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Contractors ,
NEPA ,
Noncompliance ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
On October 7, 2022, OSHA announced that it had ordered ExxonMobil Corp. to immediately rehire two computational scientists who alleged that they were fired in retaliation for leaking to the media their concerns about improper...more
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
7/18/2022
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Multinationals ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On October 28, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill dramatically expanding New York’s whistleblower statute, New York Labor Law § 740, which is scheduled to take effect on January 26, 2022. ...more
In recent weeks, there have been numerous widely reported incidents of employees, particularly those in the health care industry, claiming that they have been retaliated against for reporting health and safety concerns...more
On December 9, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that, as a matter of law, directors cannot be held liable under the anti-retaliation provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Zornoza v....more
1/16/2020
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Board of Directors ,
CEOs ,
CFOs ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
As reported in Proskauer’s Labor Relations Update blog, the NLRB issued an important opinion on December 17, 2019 relating to employer rules requiring confidentiality from employees during workplace investigations. Apogee...more
12/19/2019
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Internal Investigations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Workplace Investigations
On July 19, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted an employer’s motion to dismiss a SOX whistleblower claim, holding that the Plaintiff—an in-house attorney—failed to allege sufficient facts...more
10/7/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
FRCP 9(b) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Misrepresentation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pleading Standards ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Violations ,
Termination ,
Whistleblowers
On July 18, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted a defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment on a SOX whistleblower retaliation claim, holding that the Plaintiff did not have...more
8/7/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Investigations ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Whistleblowers
On June 3, 2019, the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower announced a $3 million award to two whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information that led it to investigate and successfully bring an enforcement action for...more
6/19/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Companies ,
Retail Investors ,
Rule 21F ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
On February 26, 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed much of a jury’s approximately $11M verdict finding that a former general counsel was discharged in retaliation for reporting alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”)...more
3/7/2019
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers