November 24, 2014 | By Greene Broillet & Wheeler
Judy Greenwald for Business Insurance reports that SEC whistleblower tips are up 10 percent this year, along with a record number of awards. One of those awards includes the famous (or infamous, from the defense perspective) award of $30 million to one whistleblower in a case where the SEC successfully went after the violator.
According to this SEC press release, the whistleblower in that case “came [to the SEC] with information about an ongoing fraud that would have been very difficult to detect. This record-breaking award sends a strong message about our commitment to whistleblowers and the value they bring to law enforcement.”
In this context, we’re talking about whistle-blowing about violations of securities law, which is just one area of the law involving whistleblowers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also administers a whistleblower protection program, which seeks to protect employees who report safety violations and who risk retaliation from their employers, including wrongful termination, demotion, a reduction in pay, and other potential consequences.
In California – which happens to be among the handful of states with the highest rates of whistleblowing that involves securities law violations, according to Greenwald – as in other states, employers can hire and fire at will, but they cannot retaliate against an employee who reports fraud or safety violations.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partiner, Tim J. Wheeler who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney.