Don’t go looking at the Oxford English Dictionary to find a definition of whistleblower. Even the federal courts are confused as to what the term means. According to Christopher Robertson of Seyfarth Shaw, federal courts are still split over who qualifies as a whistleblower under the Dodd-Frank Act.
In the latest case, Berman v. Neo, in the Southern District of New York, the plaintiff said he reported to his employer (but not the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) violations of policy, law and generally accepted accounting principles. He then said the company fired him once he made his concerns known, explains Robertson. The court said he wasn’t a whistleblower because the Dodd-Frank Act defines the term as an individual who provides the SEC with information, not an employer.
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