Employment Law and Litigation

Rule 21F

The Whistle Keeps Blowing: SEC Whistleblower Office Releases Its 2019 Annual Report

Mike Delikat, Renee Phillips and Michael DisotellPosted on December 9, 2019

The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower (“OWB”) released its Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report (the “Report”) to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program on November 15, 2019. The Report analyzes the tips received over the last twelve months by the OWB, provides additional information about the whistleblower awards to date, and discusses the OWB’s efforts to combat retaliation and other actions that muzzle whistleblowers. To date, the SEC has recovered over $2 billion in total monetary sanctions from its enforcement actions arising from whistleblower tips, including more than $1 billion in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and interests, and it has or is scheduled to return almost $500 million to harmed investors. READ MORE →

SEC Guidance Supports its Position That Internal Whistleblowers are Protected Under Dodd-Frank

Jason M. Halper, Mike Delikat and Renee PhillipsPosted on August 6, 2015

On August 4, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission issued interpretive guidance elaborating its view that the anti-retaliation provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act apply equally to tipsters who claim retaliation after reporting internally, as well as those who are retaliated against after reporting information to the SEC. The guidance reflects that there is a split among federal courts over whether Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower retaliation provisions apply to internal as well as external reporting, and recognizes that the only circuit court to decide the issue to date, the Fifth Circuit, has taken a contrary position to that of the Commission in Rule 21F, the regulation the SEC adopted to implement the whistleblower legislation, holding that internal reports are not protected by Dodd-Frank. Whether internal reports qualify for Dodd-Frank coverage has important implications because, among other things, Dodd Frank provides enhanced recoveries (including two times back pay) and longer time frames (six years) for bringing a retaliation claim than would be available under the anti-retaliation provisions in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.