Whistleblower Law Blog

On August 13, 2010, The Employment Law Group® filed an amicus curiae brief in Johnson v. Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., on behalf of the Government Accountability Project, National Employment Lawyers Association, and National Whistleblowers Center arguing that Section 929A of the Dodd-Frank Act clarifies and confirms existing law on the scope of coverage under SOX, [...]

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an amicus curiae brief asserting that Congress intended Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) to protect whistleblowers working for consolidated subsidiaries of publicly-traded companies.  The SEC states: The [SEC] believes that the whistleblower protections of Section 806 apply not only to employees of parent companies that file [...]

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The Solicitor of Labor filed an amicus curiae brief arguing that in enacting Section 806 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Congress intended to protect whistleblowers working for the consolidated subsidiaries of publicly-traded companies.  In Klopfenstein v. PCC Flow Technologies Holdings, Inc., the ARB applied an “agency test” in which the general common law of agency is employed [...]

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On July 13, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois denied a motion for summary judgment in Schlicksup v. Caterpillar, Inc., allowing a Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) whistleblower, Daniel Schlicksup, to proceed to trial. Schlicksup, a tax manager with twenty years of experience, alleges that he was involuntarily reassigned by his employer Caterpillar [...]

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Principal Jason Zuckerman of The Employment Law Group® law firm is quoted in an article in BNA’s Daily Labor Report titled “Attorneys Agree Financial Overhaul Bill Has Vigorous Whistleblower Protections” about the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.  The Dodd-Frank Act which we blogged about here, contains [...]

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The Employment Law Group® Law Firm principals Scott Oswald and Jason Zuckerman published an article in Law360 titled “Whistleblower Provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.”  The article discusses the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.  The article is available here. For more information about The Employment Law Group® [...]

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The Employment Law Group® law firm is quoted in the lead story in The National Law Journal titled “Financial Reform Includes New Whistleblower Program.”  The article reports on the whistleblower protection provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which we blogged about here.  The article states in part: However, employment and whistleblower [...]

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Recognizing that robust whistleblower protection is critical to preventing another financial crisis, Congress included in the Dodd-Frank financial services reform bill (H.R. 4173) numerous provisions designed to encourage whistleblowing and to provide robust protection from retaliation.  These provisions create monetary awards for whistleblowers who provide original information to the SEC or CFTC, strengthen the whistleblower [...]

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On June 28, 2010, the Supreme Court issued an opinion upholding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.  The Court ruled that in order to maintain a constitutional separation of powers, Securities and Exchange Commission must be allowed remove members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board at will.  [...]

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On May 21, 2010, Jason Zuckerman, a Principal at The Employment Law Group® law firm, will speak on whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act at a CLE hosted through www.lawseminars.com.  The program will discuss recent developments concerning SOX, including new and pending corporate whistleblower protection legislation. For more information about upcoming speaking engagements featuring the [...]

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On March 30, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut held that when a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower amends his complaint, he need not wait an additional 180 days at OSHA before removing his claim to federal court.  In 2006, Richard Trusz, the managing director of valuations at UBS Realty, butted heads with management [...]

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On April 1, 2010, Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Tureck found that BB&T violated the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and ordered the bank to reinstate Amy Stroupe, awarding her approximately three years of back pay.  Stroupe, a corporate fraud investigator, uncovered a $100 million Ponzi scheme funded in part with $20 million of fraudulent [...]

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On March 17, 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered Tennessee Commerce Bank to reinstate a former chief financial officer and pay more than $1 million for violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  Former CFO George Fort filed a complaint with OSHA on April 4, 2008 alleging that the bank terminated him in retaliation for [...]

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On March 10, 2010, Judge Rae issued an order clarifying the right of SOX plaintiffs to remove their claims federal court.  In Miller v. Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc., the complainant changed counsel three times and failed to respond to discovery requests.  Miller then moved to remove her claim to federal court on the basis [...]

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On March 3, 210, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it ordered e-Smart Technologies, Inc. to reinstate a whistleblower and awarded the plaintiff over $600,000 in back pay and compensatory damages.  The whistleblower was discharged after raising concerns about misinformation in a draft public filing.  Both the employee and e-Smart have 30 days [...]

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Jason Zuckerman, a Principal at The Employment Law Group® law firm, is quoted in a Law360 article titled “Solis’ Whistleblower-Friendly Board May Reshape SOX.”  The article discusses the recent appointment of Paul Igasaki as ARB chair and Cooper Brown as vice chair and predicts that the ARB’s interpretation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will become more [...]

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The Employment Law Group® law firm is a contributing author of the 2010 annual update on the whistleblower retaliation provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a copy of which is available here.  This annual update is a project of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Committee on Federal Labor Standards Legislation Subcommittee on the [...]

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Adam Augustine Carter, a Principal at The Employment Law Group® law firm, was quoted in a January 4, 2010 article published by Law360 about TELG’s success in a SOX case before the Fourth Circuit.  The article discusses the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Stone v. Instrumentation Laboratory Company which we blogged about here.  Stone was a [...]

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On December 31, 2009, in a case of first impression, the Fourth Circuit held in Stone v. Instrumentation Laboratory Company that a Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) complainant may seek de novo review in federal court after the complaint has been pending before DOL for over 180 days without a final decision by the Secretary of Labor.  In [...]

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Tom Harrington, an associate at The Employment Law Group® law firm, was quoted in a December 3, 2009 article published by The Raleigh News & Observer.  The article, “Tony Rand accused of insider trading,” discusses accusations of insider trading by Paul Feldman, the former President of Law Enforcement Associates.  Mr. Feldman claims he was unlawfully [...]

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Today, Law360 published a column by principals R. Scott Oswald and Jason Zuckerman of The Employment Law Group® law firm on the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Van Asdale v. International Game Technology.  The column discusses how the Van Asdale decision is a substantial victory for SOX whistleblowers in that it resolves ambiguities in favor [...]

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In an article titled, “Recent Court Decision Clarifies Whistleblower Law,” Compliance Week reports about the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Van Asdale v. International Game Technology about the scope of the whistleblower retaliation provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”).  According to Scott Oswald, a principal with The Employment Law Group® law firm, the Ninth Circuit’s [...]

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On August 13, 2009, the Ninth Circuit issued a key decision on the scope of protected conduct under the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, rejecting the district court’s holding that SOX whistleblowers must prove that they blew the whistle on actual shareholder fraud.  In Van Asdale v. Int’l Game Tech., the court held [...]

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In an article titled, “Whistleblowers May Do Better Under Obama Administration,” Law 360 reports that the Department of Labor (“DOL’) continues to side with employers in its investigation of whistleblower retaliation claims filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”).  Despite the discouraging statistics, Jason Zuckerman of The Employment Law Group® law firm has expressed optimism about the [...]

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In an article titled, “ARB Upholds Bankrupt Firm’s SOX Liability But Recalculates Retaliatory Discharge Award,” BNA reports on the Labor Department’s holding in Kalkunte v. DVI Financial Services, Inc., ARB NO. 05-139 (February 27, 2009), where the Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) in a 2-1 decision, found substantial evidence to support a finding that Ms. Kalkunte’s [...]

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