Can an employee who blows the whistle on alleged securities law violations within the company (and is therefore protected by the anti-retaliation provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), but does not blow the whistle externally to the SEC, also invoke the more advantageous anti-retaliation protections of the Dodd-Frank Act in a private lawsuit? Or is Dodd-Frank limited to protecting external whistelblowers? There is a growing split of authority on this question among various federal appellate and district courts. On June 17, 2015, the Second Circuit heard oral arguments on this issue in Berman v. Neo@Ogilvy LLC, 14-4626 (2d Cir.); a decision should be forthcoming this year that may or may not deepen the divide.
In the following video clip from a recent webinar, I discuss the split of judicial authority on this issue, the reasons behind it and what is ultimately at stake:
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