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Scott Tan

Scott Tan is a law clerk in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group.

Scott earned his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law, where he served as a problem developer and member of the Moot Court Honors Board. He also worked as a research assistant for Dean Jennifer Mnookin and Professor Hiroshi Motomura.

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SDNY: Confidentiality Agreement Impeded Investors from Whistleblowing

On November 17, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a company and its CEO violated Rule 21F-17 of the Exchange Act by entering into confidentiality agreements with investors that prohibited communications with the SEC, and subsequently attempting to enforce those agreements.  SEC v. Collectors Coffee Inc., No. … Continue Reading

EEOC Updates COVID-19 Guidance with Anti-Retaliation Section

On November 17, 2021, the EEOC updated its technical guidance on COVID-19 and anti-discrimination with a new anti-retaliation section. The new section largely restates existing statutory anti-retaliation protections in the context of COVID-19.  The guidance provides several examples of COVID-related protected activity, which include filing a charge with the EEOC alleging that an employer has … Continue Reading

SEC Alleges Employer’s Compliance Manual Violates Rule 21F-17

On June 23, 2021, the SEC announced that Guggenheim Securities, LLC (“Company”) agreed to settle charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by including language in its compliance manual and training materials that allegedly prohibited employees from contacting regulators without prior Company approval.  Without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC’s order, the Company consented … Continue Reading

OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Contains Anti-Retaliation Provision

On June 21, 2021, OSHA’s much-anticipated Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) on COVID-19 protections went into effect.  While Proskauer’s Law and the Workplace blog covered the ETS in detail here, this post focuses on the anti-retaliation provision in the ETS. Anti-Retaliation Provision The ETS, which applies only to the health-care sector, contains an anti-retaliation provision prohibiting … Continue Reading

7th Circuit Affirms Denial of Equitable Tolling of Statute of Limitations Under SOX

On March 22, 2021, the Seventh Circuit affirmed a decision by the ARB dismissing a whistleblower retaliation complaint under SOX for failure to file within the 180-day statutory deadline.  Xanthopoulos v. U.S. Department of Labor, No. 20-2604.  The court rejected the plaintiff’s equitable tolling arguments. Background Plaintiff was an employee of an investment company, and … Continue Reading

Whistleblower Attorney Challenges SEC Final Rule Changing Its Whistleblower Program

On January 13, 2021, a New York whistleblower attorney filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a recent final rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission or “SEC”) which made several changes to the SEC’s whistleblower program. The SEC Final Rule The final rule was … Continue Reading

CFTC Releases 2020 Annual Report on its Whistleblower Program

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently released its 2020 Annual Report on the status of its whistleblower program for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2020. The report, prepared by the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office (“WBO”), contains statistics on the tips received and awards granted during the previous fiscal year, describes the WBO’s recent … Continue Reading

SEC Amends Whistleblower Program Rules

On September 23, 2020, by a vote of 3 to 2, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the adoption of a final rule implementing several changes to its whistleblower program, citing the need to “provide greater clarity to whistleblowers and increase the program’s efficiency and transparency.”  The following addresses the key provisions of the … Continue Reading

Third Circuit Confirms Limits on Scope of Protected Activity Under SOX

On July 16, 2020, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a former IT analyst’s whistleblower retaliation claim, holding that he lacked an objectively reasonable belief that his complaints implicated one of the enumerated forms of fraud in the SOX whistleblower provision.  Reilly v. GlaxoSmithKline, LLC, No. 19-cv-2897. Background Plaintiff was an IT analyst for … Continue Reading

ARB Denies Equitable Tolling of 180-Day Statute of Limitations Under SOX

On June 29, 2020, the Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) upheld the dismissal of a whistleblower retaliation complaint under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) for failure to file within the 180-day statutory deadline.  Xanthopoulos v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., ARB Case No. 2019-0045 (June 29, 2020). Background Complainant was an employee of Mercer … Continue Reading

CFTC Issues $6 Million Whistleblower Award

On June 9, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a $6 million whistleblower award to an individual under its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program.  The individual was rewarded for voluntarily providing specific, credible, and timely information that led the CFTC to bring a successful enforcement action. The Director of the Whistleblower Office, Christopher Ehrman, … Continue Reading

SDNY Dismisses Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Claim for Lack of Protected Activity and Causation

On February 28, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a former chief marketing officer’s claim of whistleblower retaliation under the Dodd Frank Act. Cellucci v. O’Leary No. 19-cv-02752 (S.D.N.Y. 2020). Background Plaintiff is one of several former chief executives of a closely-held infrastructure technology company who were terminated.  … Continue Reading

SDNY: Directors Not Liable For Whistleblower Claims Under SOX

On December 9, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that, as a matter of law, directors cannot be held liable under the anti-retaliation provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  Zornoza v. Terraform Global Inc., No. 18-cv-11617. Background Plaintiff is the former President and CEO of the defendant companies which … Continue Reading

CFTC Releases FY 2019 Annual Report

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently released its statutorily mandated 2019 Annual Report covering the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2019.  The report, prepared by the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office (“WBO”), outlines the tips received and awards granted during the fiscal year, and describes the status of the WBO’s initiatives to educate consumers about … Continue Reading
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