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Recent Blog Posts

  • Featured on Employment Law This Week:  The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently issued the largest whistleblower awards under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) in history. Affirming the payout of over $49 million to two whistleblowers and over $33 million to a third for information that led to successful securities law prosecutions. Dodd-Frank established the whistleblower “bounty” program in 2010, and the SEC reports that it has awarded more than $262 million so far, to 53 whistleblowers. Watch... More
  • On March 13, 2018, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed bill HB 1298, the Washington Fair Chance Act (“Act”), which prohibits employers from asking job applicants about arrests or convictions until after the employer has determined that the applicant is “otherwise qualified” for the job. The Act goes into effect on June 7, 2018. The new law rounds out “ban-the-box” legislation on the West Coast and makes Washington the eleventh state nationwide to enact a “ban-the-box” law that covers both public and... More
  • On March 19, 2018, the SEC issued an Order jointly awarding two whistleblowers more than $49 million, and awarding a third whistleblower more than $33 million, for reporting information to the SEC that led to its successful prosecution of an enforcement action against the perpetrators of securities violations. In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to include Section 21F, entitled “Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection.” Among other things, Section 21F established a whistleblower “bounty” program that... More
  • Featured on Employment Law This Week: Supreme Court: Dodd-Frank Protections Are Limited Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections are limited – The Supreme Court has ruled that whistleblower protections under the Dodd-Frank Act apply only to those who report violations to the SEC. The Act protects whistleblowers from termination, demotion, and harassment. People who report to the SEC, other regulatory or law enforcement agencies, or to company management are still protected under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation provision permits whistleblowers to recover double... More
  • Our colleague Stuart M. Gerson at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Technology Employment Law blog that will be of interest to our readers in the financial services industry: “The GDPR Soon Will Go Into Effect, and U.S. Companies Have to Prepare.” Following is an excerpt: The European Union’s (“EU’s”) General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”) go into effect on May 25, 2018, and they clearly apply to U.S. companies doing business in Europe or offering goods and services online that EU residents... More
  • Featured as our top story on Employment Law This Week: Me too At Work – Sexual misconduct in the C-Suite leads to shareholder lawsuits. Last month on Employment Law This Week, you heard that sexual misconduct allegations would start impacting shareholder value and reputation. Well, now we’ve got a case study in Wynn Resorts. After the Wall Street Journal uncovered multiple sexual misconduct allegations against Casino mogul Steve Wynn, the company’s stock fell nearly 20%. Wynn resigned a week later, but the... More
  • Financial institutions and advisers that manage retirement plan assets and are subject to the regulations of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, (“ERISA”) regarding fiduciary duties (the “Fiduciary Rule”) may also be subject to state law violations for failure to comply with the Fiduciary Rule. The Enforcement Section of the Massachusetts Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth (the “Massachusetts Enforcement Section”) filed an administrative complaint (the... More
  • On February 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a circuit split and ruled in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers that Dodd-Frank’s anti-whistleblower retaliation provision (15 U.S.C. § 78u–6(h)) does not protect employees who report alleged securities violations only to their employers, and not to the SEC. Paul Somers (“Somers”), a former Vice President of Portfolio Management for Digital Realty Trust, claimed that his employer violated the whistleblower protections of Dodd-Frank by terminating him in retaliation for complaining to management... More
  • The United States Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) recently sent 1,000 Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters (“CSALs”) to 515 federal government contractors. The CSALs provide advance notice that contractor establishments may be audited by the OFCCP during the scheduling cycle, which ends September 30, 2018, to ensure compliance with the contractors’ non-discrimination/affirmative action obligations. The CSALs were sent on February 1, 2018, to the attention of the Director of Human Resources of the contractor establishments appearing on... More
  • Our colleague Laura A. Stutz at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Health Employment and Labor blog that will be of interest to our readers in the financial services industry: “New York City Council Passes Bills Establishing Procedures on Flexible Work Schedules and Reasonable Accommodation Requests.” Following is an excerpt: The New York City Council recently passed two bills affecting New York City employers and their employees. The first bill, Int. No. 1399, passed by the Council on December 6, 2017,... More