Andrew Sherwood
Andrew M. Sherwood is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group. His practice focuses on defending employers in state and federal court lawsuits and alternative dispute resolution forums against claims of discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation and breach of contract.
From 2010 through 2012, Andrew served as an honors trial attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he litigated anti-discrimination claims against private employers and managed administrative investigations.
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On March 11, 2019, a federal court in Minnesota rejected an employer’s attempt to litigate a plaintiff’s state-law whistleblower claim in a federal forum, ruling it was insufficient that the plaintiff alleged violations of federal regulations because the narrow exception to federal-question jurisdiction was not present. Martinson v. Mahube-Otwa Cmty. Action P’ship, Inc., No. 18-cv-03001. … Continue Reading
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a whistleblower award totaling more than $2 million to be paid to an individual whistleblower, as part of its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. This award is particularly interesting because the whistleblower “provide[d] critical information through independent analysis of market data,” according to the CFTC … Continue Reading
On July 12, 2018, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued its largest whistleblower award ever, approximately $30 million, as part of its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. This is the first award under the Trump Administration, and only the fifth award that the CFTC has issued since the inception of its whistleblower bounty program. Notably, … Continue Reading
Recently, a California federal court denied the defendant–employer’s motion for a new trial, upholding the jury’s $7.96 million verdict finding that the Company terminated its former general counsel for reporting alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. See Sanford S. Wadler v. Bio-Rad Labs., Inc. et al., 2017 WL 1910057 (N.D. Cal. May 10, 2017).… Continue Reading
A California Magistrate Judge in BofI Federal Bank v. Erhart ruled that a whistleblower’s attorney’s communications sent to federal regulators were protected by the attorney work product doctrine. No. 15-cv-2353 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 5, 2016). The court concluded that the whistleblower’s attorney had not waived work product protection through her disclosure to third-party regulators, finding that she … Continue Reading
On July 19, 2016, the SEC issued an order upholding the SEC Claims Review Staff’s (“CRS”) Preliminary Determination denying three claims for whistleblower awards. The SEC’s order explains how the claimants’ bounty requests were properly denied for failing to meet the SEC’s eligibility requirements. As we have previously discussed here, all but a few whistleblower … Continue Reading
The SEC announced today the departure of Sean X. McKessy, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. Mr. McKessy was the first to hold that role and started his post in February 2011. Mr. McKessy is credited with developing and establishing the Dodd-Frank whistleblower bounty program from complaint intake to prosecution to the payment of substantial … Continue Reading
On February 2, 2016, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the SOX whistleblower retaliation claim in the closely watched case of Weist v. Tyco Electronics Corp., No. 15-2034. We have posted on key events during the life of this case for several years, here (covering the district court’s grant of summary judgment), here (analyzing the Third Circuit’s opinion regarding … Continue Reading
On January 15, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower (“OWB”) announced the award of more than $700,000 to a “company outsider who conducted a detailed analysis that led to a successful SEC enforcement action.” This award is significant because the whistleblower provided independent analysis to the SEC, rather than inside information … Continue Reading
Minnesota Federal Court Rejects Employer’s Attempt to Litigate State-Law Whistleblower Claim in Federal Forum
By Lloyd B. Chinn and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in State-Specific Whistleblower Claims
CFTC Issues $2 Million Whistleblower Award to Individual Whistleblower for Analysis of Market Data
By Harris Mufson and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in CFTC, Dodd Frank
CFTC Issues $30 Million Whistleblower Award
By Lloyd B. Chinn, Harris Mufson and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in CFTC
California Federal Court Upholds $8 Million Jury Verdict In Former General Counsel’s Whistleblower Lawsuit
By Lloyd B. Chinn, Harris Mufson and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in Dodd Frank, SOX Whistleblower Decisions
Whistleblower’s Attorney’s Communications with Regulators Found to be Protected by Work Product Doctrine
By Steven J. Pearlman and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in Employee Document/Data Theft, SEC, SOX Whistleblower Decisions
SEC Affirms Denial of Bounties to Three Purported Whistleblowers
By Lloyd B. Chinn, Harris Mufson and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in SEC
SEC Whistleblower Chief Sean McKessy to Leave, Agency Announces
By Lloyd B. Chinn, Harris Mufson and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in SEC
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal in Long-Running Weist SOX Whistleblower Case
By Steven J. Pearlman and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in SOX Whistleblower Decisions
SEC Awards Whistleblower More Than $700,000
By Harris Mufson and Andrew Sherwood on Posted in Dodd Frank
