Can a company prohibit former employees from speaking to federal regulators, such as the SEC, and function as a whistleblower? They can certainly try, but it is still illegal. Monolith Resources, LLC, based in Nebraska, included language in their employment separation agreements prohibiting departing employees from recovering money through participation…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that GPB Capital Holdings violated whistleblower protection laws by retaliating against a whistleblower and preventing people from going to the SEC with information. The government accuses the alternative asset management firm of being a “Ponzi-like scheme”. Three people have been criminally charged, including…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that Collectors Café, an online memorabilia auction company, and its CEO Mykalai Kontilai, illegally tried to stop investors from reporting misconduct to the government in violation of the SEC’s whistleblower protection rules. The SEC already sued Kontilai and Collectors Café for operating a…
The Whistleblower business can be very profitable for tipsters, a landmark whistleblower award of nearly $2.5 million was awarded today by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The recipient of this award was the employee of a domestic government agency. Information provided by this whistleblower was instrumental in launching a SEC…
On September 29, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced that casino-gaming company International Game Technology (“IGT”) agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty for firing an employee who reported to senior management and the SEC that the company’s financial statements might be distorted. The whistleblower retaliation case is…
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on September 28, 2016 that Anheuser-Busch InBev agreed to pay $6 million to settle charges that the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and attempted to silence a whistleblower who reported the misconduct. An SEC investigation found that the company used third-party…
Atlanta-based building products distributor BlueLinx Inc. is settling charges that it violated an important whistleblower protection rule by using severance agreements that required departing employees to waive their rights to monetary recovery should they file a charge or complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) or other federal…