Photo of Shanice Z. Smith-Banks

Shanice is an associate in the Labor and Employment Law Department. Her practice involves litigating claims of unlawful discrimination, harassment, retaliation and whistleblowing. Shanice assists in conducting workplace investigations related to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. She also counsels clients from a variety of fields on a range of employment matters.

Shanice earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she was a Managing Editor of the Loyola University Journal of Public Interest Law and a member of the Trial Advocacy program. Immediately upon graduation from Loyola, Shanice argued a case on behalf of the Loyola Criminal Defense Law Clinic in front of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently released its statutorily mandated 2023 Annual Report detailing the status of its whistleblower program for the fiscal year ending on September 20, 2023.

The CFTC’s whistleblower program pays awards to eligible whistleblowers who voluntarily provide original information about violations of the Commodity Exchange

On May 5, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment on whistleblower retaliation claims, holding that the company demonstrated that it would have terminated Plaintiff’s employment even in the absence of any alleged protected activity due to his refusal

On April 12, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted a defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment on a SOX whistleblower retaliation claim, holding that the company demonstrated that it would have terminated Plaintiff’s employment even in the absence of any alleged protected activity as part