HR - Whistleblowing

On August 10, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist Order and imposed remedial sanctions against a publicly traded company for including language in its severance agreements requiring outgoing employees to agree to waive recovery of any monetary award from the S

On May 20, 2015, a split Fourth Circuit panel ruled Deltek, Inc., a Virginia-based software and information services provider, must pay a terminated whistleblower four years of front wages and thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) in college tuition. In doing so, two thirds of the panel affirmed the U.S

The EEOC’s January 21, 2016 “Draft Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues” continues the pattern of governmental agencies probing deeply into your whistleblower program. Whether or not the guidance remains exactly as drafted, it is a window into the EEOC’s view of an effecti

Finding a former employee failed to “put up” sufficient facts to support the nexus between his termination and whistleblower activity protected by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), the federal appeals court in Philadelphia, in effect, has told him to “shut up,” affirming summary judgment unanimously in

There have been a series of legal battles since 2009 between Tyco Electronics Corp. and its former accounts payable manager, Jeffrey Wiest, fired for sexually harassing and engaging in inappropriate sexual relations with several female subordinates. In the latest skirmish, a Third Circuit panel unan

Compliance professionals and attorneys received confirmation on Tuesday of what many have long expected: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower program is steadily growing in scope and impact, and the SEC is taking more aggressive positions to obtain information from whistleblower

In a decision perhaps overshadowed by the Second Circuit’s subsequent decision in Berman v. Neo@Ogilvy LLC, 14-4626 (2d Cir. Sept. 10, 2015) two days later, a district court in California has added to the growing split among federal courts on the scope of the Dodd-Frank Act’s anti-retaliation provis

A federal appeals court ruling on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“DFA”) may prompt U.S. Supreme Court review as to when an employee whistleblower is entitled to the benefits of the anti-retaliation provisions of the DFA.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit created a federal appellate split today when it revived a Dodd-Frank Act retaliation claim by an ex-finance director, who was responsible for the company’s financial reporting and compliance with accounting standards. The court held that he was protec

Two recent cases from opposite coasts confirm that employees do not have an unfettered right to steal their employer’s documents notwithstanding the documents’ potential relevance to a whistleblower retaliation claim.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued interpretative guidance intended to advance the agency's position that a whistleblower is entitled to the anti-retaliation protections of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act after making an internal complaint rega

Executive Summary: On July 31, 2015, the Fifth Circuit issued a decision that may have both a positive and negative impact on employers defending whistleblower retaliation claims under the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). In this decision, the court held that a former employee could not proceed with the po

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) provides anti-retaliation protection to whistleblowers who engage in “protected activity.” To engage in protected activity under SOX, the whistleblower must provide information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or another law enforcement agency, to Congress

In a matter of first impression, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Cestra v. Mylan Inc. No. 15-0873 (E.D. Pa., May 22, 2015) held that the antiretaliation provision of the False Claims Act applies to an employer who terminates an employee for engaging in protected c

On March 5, 2015, OSHA issued amended procedures for the handling of retaliation complaints under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The amended procedures, now effective, govern employee protection claims. By way of background, on November 3, 2011, an interim final rule (“IFR”) governin

On March 5, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Final Rule implementing protections for employees of securities companies and their subsidiaries, as well as employees of national credit-rating agencies. The Final Rule protects employees of public companies, their subsidiaries, contractors an

Various whistleblower laws protect employees who "lawfully" disclose confidential information in good faith to bring to light illicit or illegal activity. Generally, therefore, employees do not receive whistleblower protections when they obtain or disclose the information illegally. A recent U.S. Su

Just eight months ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)'s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a proposal to raise the ceiling for whistleblower payouts to nearly $10 million from the current cap of $1,000. This increased monetary incentive was just one of

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted on July 21, 2010, provides broad whistleblower protections to individuals who report certain possible violations of federal securities laws. Mindful that such protections can be provided in more than one forum and by different st

In United States, et al., ex rel. Grenadyor v. Ukranian Village Pharmacy, the Seventh Circuit recently confirmed the dismissal with prejudice of a False Claims Act (FCA) action based on the relator’s failure to plead with particularity the circumstances constituting three alleged types of fraud, as