Posts Categorized: Whistleblowing

Supreme Court: Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Protections Apply Only to SEC Complaints

In Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Summers, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the anti-retaliation provisions in Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Act apply only to whistleblowing of violations of the securities laws to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and not to internal whistleblowing to company personnel.  The SEC thus chose the narrower… Read more »

Federal Jury in California Awards Over $8 Million to General Counsel Whistleblower

Whistleblowers may take heed of a February 2017 jury award to a General Counsel, who had been in his position for 25 years, of $3 million in back wages (which is doubled under the Dodd-Frank Act) and $5 million in punitive damages, for a total of nearly $11 million.  The case pitted Sanford Wadler against Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.,… Read more »

SEC Issues Risk Warning on Whistleblowing

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a Risk Alert on October 24, 2016, regarding the staff’s examination of broker-dealers for compliance with the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions.  The warning notes that the staff will review compliance manuals, codes of ethics, employment agreements and severance agreements, among others, to see whether… Read more »

SEC Settles First “Stand-Alone” Whistleblower Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) showed its teeth when it imposed its first “stand-alone” fine under the “Whistleblower Program” at the end of September, 2016.  The Program was authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act.  The fine against International Game Technology was for firing an employee who reported to senior management and the SEC that… Read more »