Stage Set For Supreme Court Review of Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Provision
Congress passed The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in direct reaction to the financial crisis caused by the collapse of the U.S. housing market in 2008. Clausen Miller is on the cutting edge of legal issues raised by the Act and its attorneys have published scholarly articles on this topic, including an article entitled Whistleblower Retaliation Claims in the Dodd-Frank Era: Defenses That Work and Defenses That Don’t.
Whistleblower retaliation claims have now moved to the forefront of the legal issues surrounding Dodd-Frank. Specifically, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has now held that an individual’s internal company complaint is sufficient to support a claim of retaliation under Dodd-Frank, and that the complaint need not be filed with the SEC to be protected. See Berman v. Neo@Ogilvy LLC, 14-4626 (2d Cir. 2015). This decision, however, conflicts with a prior opinion handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which held that an individual could only be considered a whistleblower under Dodd-Frank by reporting the matter to the SEC. This has now set the stage for Supreme Court review of the issue. Clausen Miller will continue to monitor and update on this matter. If you have questions regarding this topic, please contact Clausen Miller partner Daniel R. Bryer,dbryer@clausen.com.
Joseph J. Ferrini
Private: Daniel R. Bryer