Lynne Anderson and Meredith Murphy Co-Author Article for New Jersey Labor and Employment Law

Florham Park partner Lynne Anderson and associate Meredith Murphy co-authored an article for the spring 2012 edition of New Jersey Labor and Employment Law.

The article, titled “Dodd-Frank: Picking Up Where SOX Fell Short,” details the added protections afforded to whistle-blowers in the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protect Act (Dodd-Frank).

Before Dodd Frank, whistle-blower claims were filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), which was passed by Congress in 2002 in response to Enron and other scandals. Employers were relatively successful in defending SOX claims, and after the 2009 financial crisis, Congress passed Dodd-Frank as a reinforcement to the SOX protections.

The article details the many whistle-blower protections developed or expanded as a result of Dodd-Frank, including the much-publicized ‘bounty’ provision, which requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay an award to whistle-blowers in claims that result in imposition in excess of a million dollars. Dodd-Frank also provides new protection rights to employees who have experienced retaliation after participating in an SEC investigation, and there is also a provision extending the statute of limitations on these as well as other claims.