Retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an individual because she engaged in protected activity. This definition seems simple enough, but employees and employers alike are often left uncertain...
Over forty years ago, Congress enacted Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) to eliminate sex discrimination in educational institutions. Though much progress has been made since Title IX’s enactment,...
SEC Issues Second Largest Whistleblower Award
June 13, 2016
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on June 9 that they will award a staggering $17 million to a former employee whose tip “substantially advanced the agency’s investigation and ultimate...
Among the many laws that protect whistleblowing employees, the federal False Claims Act (FCA), and its counterpart state laws, are an important source of anti-retaliation protections. First enacted in 1863 to help prevent...
Transportation workers have to feel free to report safety hazards. That was the principle at the foundation of the recent finding by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a...
4th Circuit Upholds SOX Whistleblower Protections
June 1, 2016
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – which hears appeals from federal courts in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina – recently issued an opinion affirming a sizeable award to an employee who...
All discrimination, retaliation, and whistleblower claims have strict timelines – often within 180 or 300 days – for making complaints about such potential violations to the relevant government agencies. Employees of the...
The Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law has just published a fascinating new study analyzing over 4,000 employment suits filed in claims related to balancing employee’s...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Office announced on Friday, May 20, 2016, that it was issuing its third award in a week, this time awarding $450,000 to two individuals for information that...
If you have ever signed up for a credit card or checking account, then you are probably familiar with the lengthy, complicated contracts that typically accompany such consumer financial products. Because these contracts are...