On August 30, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the award of more than $22 million to a company insider whistleblower. According to the SEC order, the SEC determined the whistleblower’s tip and extensive assistance helped the agency stop a well-hidden fraud at the whistleblower’s employing company. The…
California-based Health Net Inc. has agreed to pay a penalty for illegally using its severance agreements to require outgoing employees to waive their ability to obtain monetary awards from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) whistleblower program. Health Net has agreed to pay a $340,000 penalty per the SEC’s…
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…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has awarded at least $8.95 million to four whistleblowers in May 2016. The first award was on May 13, 2016, when the SEC awarded a whistleblower $3.5 million for providing a tip that strengthened the SEC’s case in an ongoing investigation. According to the order…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has taken the side of the whistleblower in a dispute against mutual fund giant Vanguard Group. The SEC filed a brief on March 28, 2016 in support of David Danon, a former lawyer at the Pennsylvania-based money manager who said Vanguard terminated him because…
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) announced on April 4, 2016 an award of more than $10 million to a whistleblower who provided important, original information that led to a successful CFTC enforcement action. The award is the largest made by the CFTC’s whistleblower program, according to a CFTC…
Second Circuit of Appeals reverses lower court’s dismissal The Second Circuit of Appeals contributed to the ongoing battle over the definition of a whistleblower September 10 by remanding a workplace retaliation case dismissed by a lower court in 2014. Daniel Berman reported an alleged violation within his corporation before reporting…
Represents the second award to be issued by the CFTC The U.S. Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking important information on infringements against the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). In a recent announcement, the commission reported that it intended to award a credible whistleblower up to $290,000. The CFTC’s Whistleblower…
How the SEC’s definition of whistleblower will hold up in court Since the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the definition of “whistleblower” has been a subject of contention among courts, businesses and would-be whistleblowers. Its supposed ambiguity stems in part from the fact that the SEC offers two potentially…
Protections under the Dodd-Frank Act guaranteed award The Securities and Exchange Commission paid $3 million to a whistleblower on July 17, 2015 under the Dodd-Frank Act, which became law in July 2010. The act protects whistleblowers from retaliation from their employers and guarantees them an award from the SEC and/or…