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
On August 31, 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery held, with respect to a non-compete provision in an employment agreement, that: (1) the choice of law provision selecting Delaware was “not necessarily binding”; and (2) the...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 April 19, 2022, a California Appeals Court reversed and remanded a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in an employer’s favor, concluding there was a triable issue of material fact regarding whether a defendant had...more
2021 was a transformative year for labor and employment law and fundamental employment dynamics. There was no shortage of highly influential decisions issued by courts around the country in 2021 — and California continues to...more
12/8/2021
/ Article III ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Regulations ,
OSHA ,
Preemption ,
Racial Bias ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standing ,
TransUnion LLC v Ramirez ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Over the past few years, states across the country have sought to limit or reduce the use of employee non-compete agreements. While some states have imposed outright bans on such agreements, many more have passed laws that...more
11/19/2021
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Regulations ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
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 March 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a decision from the Seventh Circuit in Leeper v. Hamilton County Coal, LLC, No. 19-1109, which held that a layoff was temporary, and thus did not trigger the 60-day...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
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 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
On October 2, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania federal court denied a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a SOX whistleblower retaliation claim, reasoning that Plaintiff sufficiently alleged...more
10/15/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Termination ,
Whistleblowers
On January 22, 2018, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict awarding approximately $1.5 million in damages to a radiation oncologist after finding that she had been constructively and wrongfully terminated in...more
2/1/2018
/ Appeals ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Public Policy ,
Retaliation ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently dismissed a putative class action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), finding that the named plaintiff lacked standing to...more
10/30/2017
/ Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Statutory Rights ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
The Seventh Circuit recently concluded that the EEOC’s investigative powers do not end when a lawsuit related to the originating charge ends. EEOC v. Union Pacific, No. 15-cv-3452 (Aug. 15, 2017)....more
On July 25, 2017, the Third Circuit allowed a plaintiff who was an in-house attorney to proceed with a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) based on its...more
7/31/2017
/ Appeals ,
CEPA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Ethics ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Patents ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Rules of Professional Conduct ,
Whistleblowers
On April 12, 2017, the Third Circuit partially revived a former in-house attorney’s whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against his previous employer. Danon v. Vanguard Group, Inc., No. 16-cv-2881....more
4/19/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Remand ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State False Claims Acts ,
Vacated ,
Whistleblowers
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