Twice in the past two weeks, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) issued a cease-and-desist order settling proceedings against companies for using confidentiality and waiver of claims provisions in employee separation or severance agreements that violate an SEC rule promulgated after passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”).
Employment Agreements
Impact: Employers Brace for Change – Top 5 Issues Facing Businesses, as appeared in Insurance Advocate
By Epstein Becker Green on
Posted in Financial Services
Allen B. Roberts, a Member of Firm in the Labor and Employment practice and co-chair of the firm’s Whistleblowing and Compliance Subpractice Group, in the New York office, wrote an article titled “Impact: Employers Brace for Change – Top 5 Issues Facing Businesses, as appeared in Insurance Advocate.”
Following is an excerpt:…
Non-Unionized Financial Services Employer Found to Have Violated NLRA by Having Overbroad Confidentiality, Non-Disclosure, and Non-Disparagement Provisions in Employment Agreement
By Lauri F. Rasnick on
Posted in Financial Services
By: Lauri F. Rasnick
At our October 2012 client briefing we discussed the new attitude of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and the fact that non-unionized employers were not immune from the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The NLRA has been increasingly applied in non-union workplaces. And most recently, it has…
New FINRA Rule Confirms That Whistleblower Claims Need Not Be Arbitrated
By Lauri F. Rasnick on
Posted in Financial Services
Before the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd Frank”) was enacted, whistleblower claims by registered representatives, including those arising pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) were subject to mandatory arbitration at FINRA. See FINRA Notice 12-21 (PDF). Dodd Frank changed that. Dodd Frank specifically amended SOX to provide that “[n]o…