By Steve Kardell | Published September 29, 2022 | Posted in Employee Rights, Wrongful Termination | Tagged Tags: employer retaliation, JP Morgan, Sarbanes-Oxley Act |
Shaquala Williams, a former compliance attorney at JP Morgan, has sued the company for retaliation after she raised misconduct concerns. The bank filed a motion for summary judgement, alleging Williams was terminated due to poor performance. A New York federal judge denied summary judgement, and the trial will begin this November. Case background Williams’ suit Read More
Read MoreThere are not any federal laws that afford general protections to corporate whistleblowers. However, there are many types of protected disclosures under federal whistleblower laws. These protections come from a variety of sources, including the following: False Claims Act: The False Claims Act protects disclosures about fraud toward the government, including any actions taken to Read More
Read MoreWhen Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, it included a whistleblower provision (Section 806) that protected employees of public companies who were victims of retaliation after they had either disclosed or complained about fraudulent acts by their employers. Since then, the number of cases that can be brought under SOX has been significantly increased. Read More
Read MoreThe recent Berman v. [email protected] case showed us that the whistleblower protections afforded in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are still extremely important and relevant, despite many predictions that the whistleblower provision of the Dodd-Frank Act would make them obsolete. Claims under SOX remain an excellent remedy for whistleblowers who have been victims of retaliation in the Read More
Read MoreIn early August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued some clarification on rules regarding internal whistleblower reporting. According to the agency, whistleblowers are to be protected under the Dodd-Frank Act when they report misconduct both internally and directly to the SEC. This is the first formal clarification the SEC has issued, and it clears Read More
Read MoreA federal jury in New York recently awarded $1.6 million to a whistleblower who provided useful information in a retaliation lawsuit under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This award is consistent with a recent national trend of awarding whistleblowers with large sums of compensation, the idea being that larger rewards lead to more whistleblowers willing to come Read More
Read MoreThe Sixth Circuit of Appeals confirmed financial planner Michael Rhinehimer’s $250,000 award in his lawsuit against his former employer, U.S. Bancorp, for retaliation against a complaint. Through affirming Rhinehimer’s case, the Sixth Circuit has upheld Section 1514A of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which allows a whistleblower to act and be protected if the individual has reasonable Read More
Read MoreThe Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” Following a rash of financial calamities largely caused by risky and illegal conduct within publicly traded companies, Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) to shine light into corporate boardrooms and corridors and protect the employees of publicly-traded Read More
Read MoreDeciding to report internal misconduct can be difficult for any employee or officer of an organization. For members of the legal profession, however, the decision can easily conflict with their ethical obligations. Lawyers working as in-house counsel have long struggled with the apparent contradictions between their own professional ethical rules and the whistleblowing requirements of Read More
Read MoreIt is highly recommended for companies and organizations to implement a strong internal whistleblower policy. The primary reasons for a corporate whistleblower system are to protect the company and its chief executive officer and chief financial officer from criminal indictment and the ensuing penalties and to protect the shareholders from losses of their equity interests. Read More
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