URGENT UPDATE:
In February 2018, The Supreme Court Of The United States Ruled In Digital Realty Trust V. Somers That Corporate Whistleblowers Are Not Protected Under The Dodd-Frank Act If They Report Only To Internal Compliance Programs. The Court Held That A Whistleblower Must Report To The Securities And Exchange Commission To Obtain Anti-Retaliation Protections. Although This Ruling Only Concerns The Dodd-Frank Act, Its Interpretation Of This Provision Could Apply To Other Whistleblower Laws That Don’t Explicitly Protect Internal Whistleblowers. This Includes OSHA Whistleblower Laws, Banking Whistleblower Laws, And Most Environmental Whistleblower Laws.
Question: “Are corporate compliance and ethics programs just window-dressing?”
Answer: “In many companies, probably yes.”
- 48 CFR Ch. 1 – Subpart 3.9 Whistleblower Protections for Contractor Employees.
- 48 CFR Ch. 1 – Subpart 3.10 Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct
- 48 CFR Ch. 1 – 52.203–13 Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct
- Whistleblower Protections and Compliance
- In re Kellogg Brown & Root, No. 14-5055(D.C. Cir. 2014). Petition for review En Banc in re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., Et Al.
- Barko v. Halliburton Co., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36490 (D.D.C. March 6, 2014) (reversed).
- Upjohn v. U.S., 449 U.S. 383.
- Macktal v. Brown & Root, 86-ERA-23 (Order of Secretary of Labor dated October 13, 1993).
- Brown & Root v. Donovan, 747 F2d 1029.
- Kansas Gas & Elec. v. Brock, 780 F.2d 1505.
- Egan v. Trading Screen, Inc., 10 cv 8202 LBS (S.D.N.Y. May 4, 2011)
- Copy of KBR’s Non-Disclosure Agreement
- Rand White Paper: Redefining The Relationship Of The General Counsel And Chief Compliance Officer (2014).
- Jeffrey Eglash, Senior Counsel General Electric, et al, “Avoiding the Perils and Pitfalls of Internal Corporate Investigations,” ABA Section of Litigation Corporate Counsel (Feb. 11-14, 2010)
- New York Ethics Opinion 650
- Kohn, The SEC’s Final Whistleblower Rules & Their Impact on Internal Compliance (West Law Publishing, Oct. 2011)