Whistleblower Law Blog
Board Holds that SOX Section 806 Does Not Apply Extraterritorially.
November 14, 2019
On September 18, 2019, the Administrative Review Board (ARB or the Board) issued an important decision in Hu v. PTC, Inc., holding that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblower retaliation provision does not apply to individuals working outside the United States (U.S.). The Board’s decision in Hu appears to overturn its 2017...
Court Allows Army Translators to Proceed with Qui Tam Suit
November 11, 2019
A federal district court’s recent denial of a motion to dismiss a False Claims Act suit provides useful analyses of several recurrent issues in FCA cases, including the “original source” rule, pleading standards, and properly stating claims against multiple defendants. A group of 29 whistleblowers (known as qui tam “...
Second Circuit Rules Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Claims Arbitrable
November 6, 2019
On September 19, 2019, the Second Circuit held that an employer may enforce a mandatory arbitration clause against an employee who brings a retaliation claim under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank). See Daly v. Citigroup Inc., 939 F.3d 415 (2d Cir. 2019). In doing so, the court differentiated Dodd-Frank claims from...
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation Strengthening Protections for Whistleblowers
October 29, 2019
On September 23, 2019, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Whistleblower Programs Improvement Act (“WPIA”), S. 2529, to extend whistleblower protections to more individuals who report violations of securities and commodities laws. The bill is...
Spike in CFTC Whistleblower Awards as Enforcement Expands in Four Key Areas
October 18, 2019
The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has recently released four alerts aimed at encouraging whistleblowers to come forward with information about money laundering, insider trading, foreign corrupt practices, or virtual currency fraud. These public statements and a recent spike in awards under the CFTC...
Recent Legislation Expands Tax Whistleblower Awards and Provides Protection from Retaliation
October 17, 2019
Over the past two years, new legislation has enacted considerable reforms to the IRS’s whistleblower program and introduced protections for employees who report tax violations.
The IRS Whistleblower Award Program
The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) allows for awards to eligible whistleblowers who provide the IRS with information...
After Digital Realty Trust: Bill Protecting Whistleblowers Heads to the Senate
July 24, 2019
On July 9, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2515, also known as the Whistleblower Protection Reform Act of 2019 (“WPRA”). The WPRA is designed to address a gap in the whistleblower protections afforded under the Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection and Wall Street Reform Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank”), as...
6 Whistleblower Don'ts Every Employee Should Know
July 6, 2019
If you have blown the whistle on wrongdoing by your employer, there is a wealth of good advice about what you should do if you face retaliation. But it also is important to know what you shouldn’t do during the whistleblower process. Many employees ruin strong retaliation claims – and even expose themselves to legal liability...
Post-Escobar Ruling Further Defines Materiality in False Claims Act
June 4, 2019
In a May 2019 decision in the case of United States v. Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., a California court permitted whistleblower Brian Markus’s claims against Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (“Aerojet”) to proceed under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), providing further guidance on the meaning of materiality in cases...
CFTC Grants Whistleblower Award of Over $2M
May 20, 2019
On March 4, 2019, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for the first time awarded a whistleblower over $2 million for providing the Commission with information that led to a successful enforcement action for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), and a related action brought by another federal...
