By Jim Beyer

There is a split in the federal courts over the scope of Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower protections that may eventually reach the Supreme Court. The question is if there are only internal reports of potential securities law violations is that activity protected whistleblowing under the Dodd-Frank Act’s anti-retaliation provision or must the potential violations be reported to the SEC?
Continue Reading Are Whistleblower Internal Complaints Protected under Dodd-Frank?

By Clark Smith

A One-Two Punch For Employers 

Last July, we alerted you to a Fifth Circuit decision that limited the whistleblower protections of the Dodd‑Frank Act of 2010. In that case, the court held that Dodd‑Frank protects whistleblowers only if they report a securities-law violation directly to the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”), as opposed to just making an internal complaint. This month, in Villanueva v. U.S. Department of Labor, the Fifth Circuit published a decision curtailing the reach of whistleblower protections under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”). Taken in tandem, these two decisions are welcome news for energy employers because they significantly restrict the reach of whistleblower protections, particularly for employees working outside the U.S., who may be disinclined to make complaints directly to the SEC or who may rely on alleged violations of foreign laws to make their case.

SOX protects employees of publicly-traded companies who engage in certain protected activities such as reporting violations of certain federal laws, such as mail and wire fraud.  SOX creates a private cause of action for employees who have been retaliated against for engaging in such protected activities. Last week, in Villanueva, the Fifth Circuit ruled that SOX’s whistleblower provision only protects reporting violations of U.S. federal law. 
Continue Reading Another Victory for Energy Employers: The Fifth Circuit Limits SOX Whistleblower Suits to Violations of U.S. Federal Law

As our Seyfarth colleagues who publish the Environmental and Safety Law Update recently posted, potential tipsters have fresh incentive to come forward thanks to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent announcement that it awarded an unprecedented $14 million to an anonymous whistleblower. 

Though similar recoveries or bounties are not available under the most frequently employed whistleblower protections, this kind


Continue Reading SEC’s $14 Million Whistleblower Reward Likely to Lure More Tipsters

By: Pinny Goldberg and Peter Walker

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in a stark departure from every other court to previously consider the issue, has ruled that potential whistleblowers are only protected from retaliation under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010’s whistleblower-protection provision if they report a violation of the securities laws directly to the U.S. Securities
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Narrowly Construes Definition of “Whistleblower” under Dodd-Frank