On April 23, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that a plaintiff’s SOX claim precluded his claim for common law retaliatory discharge. Cohen v. Power Solutions International, Inc., No. 17-cv-4385.
Plaintiff, a COO, claimed that in early 2016, he became suspicious of the
On January 17, 2018, a Portland, Oregon jury issued a verdict of $1 million in damages to a former employee who alleged that his employer retaliated against him for reporting misconduct. Zweizig v. Northwest Direct Teleservices, Inc., 15-cv-02401 (D. Or. 2018).
Plaintiff worked for Defendant from 2001 to 2003. After
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently granted a Rule 12(b)(1) and (6) motion to dismiss a former employee’s complaint alleging retaliation under the Illinois Whistleblower Act (“IWA”). Huang v. Fluidmesh Networks, LLC, No. 16-cv-9566 (N.D. Ill. July 18, 2017).
Background. Plaintiff was a Supply Chain and Manufacturing Manager for Defendant. He alleged that Defendant’s Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”) falsely told a third party that a publicly-traded client intended to purchase Defendant. Plaintiff alleged that because he thought this allegedly false information could impact the client’s stock price, he reported it to his direct supervisor, the CTO and the CTO’s supervisor. Plaintiff claims that he told these individuals that the disclosure of the information was “illegal” and that he would report the violation to the appropriate authorities. Plaintiff’s employment was terminated subsequent to his internal reports and he alleged that he received no explanation as to the basis for the termination.
As noted in our May 2016 client alert, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), which establishes a federal cause of action for misappropriation of trade secrets into law. As part of its protections, the DTSA provides an immunity defense for lawful disclosures (as defined by the law), including disclosures to an attorney for the sole purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected legal violation. On December 6, 2016, a federal court in Massachusetts clarified the burden associated with asserting the immunity defense in a DTSA action. Unum Group v. Loftus, Case No. 16-cv-40154 (D. Mass.).
On May 20, 2016, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision of the ARB, finding that a former employee of Deltek, Inc. (Company) was retaliated against in violation of Section 806 of SOX and entitled to four years’ worth of front pay. Deltek, Inc. v. Dep’t of Labor, No. 14-cv-2415 (unpublished).
Over the past week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced two multi-million dollar awards to whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information in ongoing investigations.