Whistleblower Law Blog

TweetThe U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear its first retaliation case brought under the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). The Court put Lawson v. FMR LLC on its docket for the term that begins in October 2013.

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TweetThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit won’t grant an en banc review of an earlier panel decision that made it easier for whistleblowers to claim protection under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). As a result, SOX whistleblowers in that jurisdiction — which includes Pennsylvania and Delaware — now are shielded from retaliation as [...]

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TweetThe U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) revisited a long-running case, once again ruling against Halliburton, the oilfield services giant, for retaliating against a whistleblower who reported accounting irregularities to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The ARB awarded financial executive Anthony Menendez $30,000 in damages, plus costs and lawyers’ fees.

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TweetA federal appeals court made it easier for whistleblowers to claim protection under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), adding dramatic weight to the U.S. Department of Labor’s landmark ruling that such employees can be protected even if they fail to cite the exact rules their employer may have broken. Instead, workers may simply show that they [...]

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TweetDana Holdings Corp., an Ohio based company that supplies driveline, sealing and thermal management technologies for passenger, commercial and off-highway vehicles, has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor to reinstate a financial analyst and pay him $274,922.47 in compensatory damages in order to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of [...]

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TweetR. Scott Oswald, managing principal of The Employment Law Group® law firm was recently interviewed by Law360 on a recent Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB) decision establishing a lighter burden of proof for whistleblowers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). The decision, Zinn v. American Commercial Lines Inc., ARB No. 10-029, ALJ No. 2009-SOX-25 [...]

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TweetAccording to The Employment Law Group® law firm’s managing principal, R. Scott Oswald, “2011 marked a sea change for whistleblowers at the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB).”  The Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Journal recently published an article by Mr. Oswald which discusses the impact of recent ARB decisions on whistleblower protection and describes why “2011 was [...]

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TweetR. Scott Oswald, managing principal of The Employment Law Group®, was recently interviewed and quoted by Workforce Management Magazine on the subject of expanded whistleblower protection under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In 2010, Dodd-Frank amended the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and expanded whistleblower protections to include “nationally recognized statistical rating organizations” [...]

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TweetR. Scott Oswald, managing principal of The Employment Law Group® recently published an article in The Washington Post discussing new expansions of employee rights in the areas of whistleblower protection and wage and hour law. In the piece, Mr. Oswald discussed recent developments in employee protection law that, if ignored, could result in penalties and [...]

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TweetOn December 22, 2011, the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) issued a 3-2 en banc decision that limits the application of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) outside of the United States. The case, Villanueva v. Core Laboratories, ARB No. 09-108, ALJ No. 2009-SOX-006 (ARB December 22, 2011), centered around a whistleblower complaint filed by [...]

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Tweet Morris Jones of Capital Insider interviewed The Employment Law Group® law firm attorney Adam Augustine Carter on the recent changes in whistleblower and employment law that will affect employees in 2012. The points Mr. Carter makes are that: There are almost 2 million home health aides and in-home care providers working in our country. Now with [...]

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Tweet The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing whistleblower Michael DeGuelle’s lawsuit against his former employer, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (SCJ) and members of management.  The Court recounted the facts alleged by DeGuelle that gave rise to the lawsuit: [While working in SCJ’s tax department,]DeGuelle [...]

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Tweet On December 16, 2011, the United States Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board issued important decision for whistleblowers and their advocates to end a year of landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) decisions by the ARB, including: Vannoy v. Celanese, ARB No. 09-118, ALJ No. 2008-SOX-064 (ARB September 28, 2011) (holding that whistleblower disclosures [...]

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TweetThe Employment Law Group® law firm principal attorney Nick Woodfield was quoted in a Law360 article regarding the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) recently published interim final rules.  These rules implement the changes made to the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) as mandated in last year’s Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer [...]

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TweetOn November 3, 2011, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published interim final rules that modify regulations pertaining to whistleblower complaints filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 contained amendments that strengthen SOX whistleblower provisions.  The recently released interim rules aim to [...]

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TweetR. Scott Oswald, Managing Principal of The Employment Law Group® law firm, discusses in the Law360 article titled Revival of SOX Case Stokes Confidentiality Concerns, which outlines the U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board’s blockbuster holding in Vannoy v. Celanese Corp.  Whistleblower Matthew Vannoy noticed potential weaknesses in his employer’s credit card reimbursement program and reported those weaknesses internally and to the IRS.  Some of [...]

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Tweet The Employment Law Group® attorney R. Scott Oswald discusses the landmark Menendez decision with LawyersUSA in an article titled SOX whistleblower decision creates employer problems.  The Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB) ruled that a failure of management to maintain the confidentiality of a whistleblower is a violation of the anti-retaliation provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).  Mr. Oswald outlines the positive consequences [...]

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TweetIn Vannoy v. Celanese Corp., the Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB) reversed the Administrative Law Judge’s decision, affirming that whistleblowers are protected when disclosing to the government confidential employer information evidencing wrongdoing. Whistleblower Matthew Vannoy filed a complaint with the Department of Labor on January 25, 2008, alleging his employer, Celanese Corporation, violated [...]

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Tweet On September 13, 2011, the Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB) issued an opinion in Menendez v. Halliburton, Inc., another opinion in a long line of opinions this year and last year that affirm broad protections for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblowers.   The ARB reversed the decision of the Administrative Law Judge, finding that the [...]

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TweetThe U.S. Department of Labor ordered Bank of America (BoA)  to reinstate and pay $930,000 to a former employee who BoA is accused of unlawfully retaliating against. The unidentified employee worked for Countrywide Financial Corp. before it merged with Bank of America in 2008. After conducting an internal investigation, the former employee found “widespread and [...]

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TweetThe National Whistleblower Center, National Employment Lawyers Association, and The Employment Law Group® law firm filed an amicus brief in Villanueva v. Core Laboratories NV, a case before the Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB).  Our amicus brief argues that whistleblowers at overseas subsidiaries remain protected under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) when the protected activity includes emails to the U.S., [...]

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TweetLaw360 quoted The Employment Law Group® Principal Jason Zuckerman in an article regarding the U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board’s en banc decision in Sylvester v. Parexel International on May 25, which clarified the broad scope of protected conduct for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblowers.  Jason Zuckerman, a principal at The Employment Law Group, which [...]

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TweetLaw360 Quoted The Employment Law Group® principal attorney Jason Zuckerman on the DOL ARB’s decision in Sylvester v. Parexel International LLC, which held that the Twombly/Iqbal heightened pleading standards do not apply to SOX claims initiated with OSHA and that a complainant need only express a “reasonable belief” of a violation to engage in SOX-protected activity.   See the [...]

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TweetThe DOL Administrative Review Board has issued a very significant en banc decision on the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) that significantly strengthens the statute by clarifying the broad scope of protected conduct.  The ARB’s opinion in Sylvester v. Parexel International LLC, ARB No. 07-123, ALJ Nos. 2007-SOX-039, 042 (May 25, 2011) represents a substantial [...]

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TweetBen James wrote an article titled DOL Broadly Reads Protected Activity in SOX Case in which he discusses the Brown v. Lockheed Martin Corp. ruling by the DOL where the Administrative Review Board found that Lockheed Martin Corp. violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Andrea Brown, Lockheed employee had complained to management that the vice president [...]

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