The Fifth Circuit has held in Asadi v. G.E. Energy (USA), LLC that a whistleblower must provide information to the SEC in order to be protected by the Dodd-Frank anti-retaliation provisions.  The reasoning is pretty simple.  That’s the way the statute defines the term “whistleblower.”  The Court went as far as to reject the definition of “whistleblower” in the SEC’s rules.

We understand this to be the first appellate court decision on the issue.  As we have noted, district courts have ruled differently on the issue.