II. The Circuit Split In September of this year, the second circuit’s decision in Berman v Neo@Ogilvy LLC created a circuit split with the fifth circuit’s 2013 decision in Asadi v. G.E. Energy (USA), L.L.C. Specifically, the two circuits disagreed about whether a whistleblower must report externally to qualify for protection from employer retaliation under the Dodd-Frank Act. The dispute arises from a conflict between two subsections of Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower provisions, namely the definition section and subsection (iii) of the anti-retaliation provision. The definition section of the Dodd-Frank Act defines a whistleblower as someone who “provides . . . information related to a violation of the securities law to the [Securities and Exchange] …show more content…
7201 et seq.), this chapter, including section 78j-1(m) of this title, section 1513(e) of title 18, and any other law, rule, or regulation subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission. These seemingly conflicting provisions have led the Fifth Circuit to decide that internal whistleblowers are not protected and the Second Circuit to decide that they are protected. The crux of the argument focuses on whether or not the statute is ambiguous on this matter so as to warrant granting Chevron deference to the SEC’s rule. The SEC’s final rule was promulgated in August 2011 under the authority delegated to it by Congress. The rule itself states that you are a whistleblower if: (i) You possess a reasonable belief that the information you are providing relates to a possible securities law violation (or, where applicable, to a possible violation of the provisions set forth in 18 U.S.C. 1514A(a)) that has occurred, is ongoing, or is about to occur,
BARBARA J. O'NEIL et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. CRANE CO. et al., Defendants and Respondents.
The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff and declared that the City was responsible for the employer’s action based on Title VII which was subject to an affirmative defense. The Supreme Court found that the work environment was hostile and it was attributable to Silverman and Terry’s behavior. The Supreme Court also found that the employer is vicariously liable for some tortious conduct on behalf of the supervisors, Bill Terry and David Silverman.
The 1983 film Silkwood, was inspired by Karen Silkwood of the monumental Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corp. (81-2159) whistleblowing case. Silkwood, a union activist and whistleblower who worked at the Cimarron, Oklahoma Kerr-McGee Nuclear Fuel Processing facility from August, 1972 through November 1974. While the activist was investigating alleged wrongdoing, specifically plutonium contaminations on her body and throughout her house, she was killed in a suspicious auto accident. The case portrayed in film shows implications for modern whistleblowers, set a precedent and was essential in creating proper protections for whistleblowers. This paper will analyze the context of Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corp. in modern day whistleblowing.
After hearings on June 23rd and August 12th of 2015, Judge Richard Berman ruled to vacate Tom Brady’s four-game suspension on the morning of September 3rd . In his court document, Berman makes the following statement: For the reasons stated herein, the Management Council’s motion to confirm the arbitration award [ECF No. 4] is denied and the Player’s Association’s motion to vacate the arbitration award [ECF No. 28] is granted. Brady’s four-game suspension is vacated, effective immediately. The Clerk is respectfully requested to close cases 15 Civ. 5916 and 15 Civ. 5982. On October 27th, the NFL filed a 61-page brief in court that appealed Judge Berman’s decision in the Deflategate case. The NFL stated the Commissioner concluded that: “(1) Mr.
Employees started to exchange their frustration about Cruz-Moore’s criticism. A director of HUB soon followed up with the Facebook post. Cruz-Moore commented on Cole-Rivera’s post “stop with your lies about me”, She then brought the entire Facebook exchange to the executive director’s attention (O'Brien, C. N. 2013). The employees who were involved were terminated for bulling and harassment of Cruz-Moore. Cruz-Moore had suffered a heart attack as a result of this incident. The NLRB ruled that HUB violated the NLRA by discharging the five employees, because the employees were engaged in protected concerted activities for the “purpose of mutual aid or protection” under Section 7.167 (O'Brien, C. N. 2013). Employers were ordered to reinstate employees with back pay because the discharges were motivated by the employee’s protected concerted activity.
World Color Press, Inc. it was a worker’s compensation claim which involved allegations of federal law violations. The plaintiff in this case was the senior vice president and chief financial officer was the defendant in the case. The senior vice president was hired in 1974 and fired 1982 in which he alleged was a retaliatory discharge. He was opposed to the company’s accounting practices and suggested it violated federal securities law. His claim was based on general accounting practices and principles. He noted that these principles would have overstated and inflated the income in 1981 and asset valuation of the company. The court agreed with the plaintiff on his claims as well another section of federal securities law which states it is illegal to make false statements to the federal government. This was made clear in mandated public policy. During this case the Wheeler v. Caterpillar Tractor Co. was cited this case involved federal regulations on safety of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Palmateer v. International Harvester Co which reported alleged criminal activity to the local police. The mandated public policy help verify the federal laws been broken in each case. The vice president was a consider a high level manger and the defendant tried state the case that the retaliatory discharge should only apply to low level managers. Under the federal guidelines everyone should be treated equally and fairly no matter their position in the company. The courts did not agree with the defendant because he was classifying the employees which is also
This case made it clear that an employee did not have to be terminated or some other heavy adverse action to make a federal retaliation claim. Because retaliation can be considered as anything that brings harm to an employee in the workplace, it allowed employees a wider scope on what could be considered adverse employment actions. After this case, it states that any actions that an employer takes against an employee that is considered adverse is retaliation. The intent of the law is to make sure that employers can not take adverse actions against employee that will discourage them from reporting unlawful behaviors.
The St. Mary’s Center v. Hicks case created national storm after the Supreme Court decision that an employee must provide evidence and prove discrimination in the workplace. To demonstrate discrimination, an employee must conform under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Cundiff, & Chaitovitz, 1994). Justice Scalia labeled Saint Mary’s Center v. Hicks case “pretext-plus” approach. Other courts, commentators, and analysts originally also classified the term pretext-plus. The approach of this case is similar to “pretext-only” approach from the case McDonnell Douglas Corp v. Green of 1973 (Cundiff, & Chaitovitz, 1994). The employee must develop a discrimination case and accepted as correct and proved
If you want to report potential wrongdoing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, you are protected by the SEC Whistleblower Program. The program, created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act, offers employment protections as well as a monetary incentive to report a tip to the SEC. You don't have to work for a company to report possible fraud, however, finance, compliance and accounting employees are more likely to have access to specific transactions that are potential violations.
Both parties consulted their attorneys whose guidance instructed them that they did not have to disclose the information. The motivating factor in both decisions was to protect the livelihood of their companies. The facts of the information that had been revealed to each company had not been proven.
In Tameny,7 the plaintiff, alleging both contract and tort causes of action, brought suit after being terminated for refusing "to yield to his employer's pressure" to engage in acts constituting state and federal antitrust violations. (Id. at pp. 170-171, 164 Cal.Rptr. 839, 610 P.2d 1330.) The trial court sustained a demurrer to the tort claims. The Supreme Court reversed on the basis that "an employer's obligation to refrain from discharging an employee who refuses to commit a criminal act does not depend upon any express or implied ` "promise[s] set forth in the [employment] contract"' [citation], but rather reflects a duty imposed by law upon all employers in order to implement the fundamental public policies embodied in the state's penal statutes." (Id. at p. 176, 164 Cal.Rptr. 839, 610 P.2d
The Dodd- Frank law on whistle-blowing bounty program is an upgrade from the Sarbanes- Oxley. The Sarbanes – Oxley whistle -blower program protected employees from getting retaliated upon by their employers when they report misconduct within the company they are employed. Dodd- Frank law took is a step further, an employee who reports financial misconduct are entitled to receive 10 percent to 30 percent of the fines and settlements if the conviction is upheld and the penalties exceed $1 million dollars (Ferrell, 112, 2013). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law by President Obama in 2010 (Ferrell, pg. 110, 2013). The focal mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is to make markets for
This report reviews and analyzes individual rights afforded by the constitution and their applicability to the suit for wrongful termination in the case of Korb versus Raytheon. The specific constitutional rights under review are the freedom of speech, freedom of information and challenges associated with employment law. Lawrence Korb, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense and current employee of Raytheon, a large equipment manufacturing company for the U.S. military was terminated after making public statements criticizing defense spending and calling for a reduction of Navy’s fleet. Raytheon, a manufacturer of
Whistleblowers in the United States are individuals who expose organizations in illicit or dishonest activities. There are generally two views people have concerning whistleblowers: They are either considered snitches (performing acts of espionage) or they are considered martyrs (acting as a type of vigilante informing the public of wrongdoing). There have been many controversial cases in the past decade over informants such as Edward Snowden (exposing NSA data collection of citizens), Bradley Manning (responsible for leaking Iraqi military secrets), and Thomas Drake (NSA personnel leaking counterterrorism information and misconduct), some labeling them as traitors and others labeling them as saints. Some state that they weren’t
Support for the decision of Case 02-RC-143012, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Graduate Workers of Columbia– GWC, UAW