Whistleblower

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By James L. Curtis, Meagan Newman, and Craig B. Simonsen

Dr. David Michaels, Administrator for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, testified yesterday at a hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Employment & Workplace Safety. The topic of discussion was “Whistleblowers and Job Safety: Are Protections Adequate to Build a Safer Workplace?”

Dr. David Michaels’ Answer: No, They’re …
Continue Reading Whistleblowers and Job Safety: Are Protections Adequate to Build a Safer Workplace?

OSHA yesterday announced its interim final rule for “Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints Under the Employee Protection Provision of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010,” 79 Fed. Reg. 18630 (April 3, 2014).  These rules are in effect immediately, but could be revised by OSHA after the comment period.

James Curtis, Ada Dolph, and Craig Simonsen have prepared…
Continue Reading OSHA Issues Its Interim Final Rule On Whistleblowers Procedures Under Dodd-Frank’s Consumer Financial Protection Act

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

In a recent U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) whistleblower protection program report, the GAO recommends that the Secretaries of Labor and Transportation evaluate their current and in-process memoranda of agreements (MOAs) to ensure that the MOAs incorporate key practices for collaboration. “Opportunities Exist for OSHA and DOT to Strengthen Collaborative Mechanisms…
Continue Reading GAO Report on OSHA, DOT Whistleblower Issues

By Lauren J. Regis and Christopher F. Robertson

The Supreme Court ruled last week that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s whistleblower protection includes employees of a public company’s private contractors and subcontractors. Lawson v. FMR LLC et al., Case No. 12-3, 571 U.S. ___ (March 4, 2014).

Here is Lauren Regis and Christopher Robertson’s One Minute Memo on the opinion. They…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Extends Whistleblower Protections to Employees at Private Firms

By James L. Curtis, Meagan Newman, and Craig B. Simonsen

OSHA just published its Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints Under Section 402 of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act. 79 Fed. Reg. 8619 (February 13, 2014).

The interim final regulations relate to the whistleblower provisions found at section 402 of the FDA Food…
Continue Reading Procedures for OSHA Whistleblower Complaints Under the Food Safety Modernization Act

By James L. Curtis and Craig B. Simonsen

We had previously blogged about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s solicitation of public comments (78 Fed. Reg. 3918) on a proposal to provide an electronic submission form for employees to submit retaliation complaints.

Now, without any further rulemaking or other explanation concerning any comments that OSHA may have received,…
Continue Reading OSHA “Launches Online Form” for Filing Whistleblower Complaints

The hospitality industry today is faced with an ever changing landscape of safety and health issues.

To help your business succeed in this ever changing landscape, please join James L. Curtis and Ilana R. Morady as they present an insightful webinar on the challenges faced by the hospitality industry and some of the strategies to employ when addressing safety and…
Continue Reading Looking Ahead: What the Hospitality Industry Should Expect From OSHA in 2014

According to a recent One Minute Memo, by Christopher F. Robertson and Megan H. Poonolly, potential tipsters have fresh incentive to come forward thanks to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest multi-million dollar whistleblower reward.  Though similar recoveries or bounties are not available under the most frequently employed whistleblower protections, this kind of news is also likely…
Continue Reading SEC’s $14 Million Whistleblower Reward Likely to Lure More Tipsters and Whistleblower Claims

By Brent I. Clark and Meagan Newman

Today, the FAA, working in conjunction with OSHA, issued a final policy for improving workplace safety for aircraft cabin crew.  The new FAA regulations will take precedence over OSHA regulations that cover the same or similar hazards, though some OSHA regulations will continue to apply.

“This policy shows the strength of agencies working…
Continue Reading FAA Issues Workplace Safety Policy for Aircraft Cabin Crewmembers

By James L. Curtis and Meagan Newman

Seyfarth Shaw’s Whistleblower Team is pleased to announce the launch of Workplace Whistleblower, a 10-part microblog series that will offer perspectives on common whistleblower situations faced by HR and in-house legal departments.

With the steady rise in whistleblower claims and related liability, we have seen a rapid increase of calls from clients…
Continue Reading Introducing “Workplace Whistleblower”- A 10-Part Microblog Series