Podcast: Expanding Employee Rights For Whistleblowers

Hosted by: David Weisenfeld

The Supreme Court's March 4, 2014 ruling in Lawson v. FMR made it easier for employees to come forward to blow the whistle on corporate misdeeds. The Court's decision expands the reach of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in finding that employees of private companies that contract with public companies are covered by SOX's whistleblower provisions.

In this podcast, XpertHR Legal Editor Marta Moakley examines what the Supreme Court had to say, including its concern that a ruling against the employees would have reimposed the same code of silence that allowed massive frauds such as Enron to occur. Moakley said, "That really loomed large in the Court's reasoning." She also addresses how a George Clooney movie played a role in the Court's analysis.

The podcast also takes an in-depth look at other notable recent whistleblower developments affecting employers, and discusses key insights for supervisors and HR on how to handle complaints.