The Knowledge Group Has Scheduled a Live Webcast on Dealing with Whistleblowers: What Employers Need to Know

New York, NY, June 07, 2017 --(PR.com)-- The Knowledge Group/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series, the leading producer of regulatory focused webcasts, announced today that it has scheduled a live webcast entitled: “Dealing with Whistleblowers: What Employers Need to Know Live Webcast”. This two-hour event is scheduled on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 @ 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM (ET).

Event Synopsis:
The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 increased whistleblowing by providing for the establishment of whistleblower bounty programs for both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Under these programs, whistleblowers who provide unique and useful information will be entitled to up to 30 percent of the recovery obtained through actions brought by the government, when it exceeds $1 million. With the emergence of increasing federal and state whistleblowing regulations – and stepped up enforcement of those regulations – employers need to be sensitive to whether their interactions with current and former employees are consistent with those regulations. In particular, employer-employee severance and separation agreements have been the focus of several recent SEC enforcement actions, and these agreements are increasingly regulated by courts and other agencies.

In particular, in some of its recent enforcement actions, the SEC has fined several companies for entering into severance and separation agreements that require employees to waive any monetary awards they could receive from serving as government whistleblowers. The SEC takes the position that such agreements violate its rules that prohibit any conduct that could “impede” a person from “blowing the whistle” to the SEC. The SEC has also increased its investigation of conduct it views as retaliatory against whistleblowers – whether the whistleblower went to the SEC, or only blew the whistle internally at the company.

Other federal statutes and agency regulations and court rulings have also increasingly regulated such severance and separation agreements.

In a two-hour live webcast, a panel of thought leaders and practitioners assembled by The Knowledge Group will discuss the significant and latest issues surrounding severance and separation agreements, and how those agreements are viewed in light of the Dodd-Frank Act and its whistleblower programs. They will also offer best practices in helping employers avoid the risks brought by such agreements.

This 2-hour webcast will discuss the following key provisions:
· Whistleblower Programs Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and other laws
· SEC Rule 21F-17
· The Nature of Separation and Severance and Release Agreements
o Why employers continue to create and why employees can't help but sign?
o Why courts and agencies continue to increase review of such separation and release agreements?
· Typical Claims Restricted by Separation and Severance and Release Agreements
· The Most Recent Fines and Penalties Issued by the SEC and Other Agencies

Speakers/Faculty Panel:

Greenberg Traurig, P.A.
Joseph Z. Fleming
Shareholder

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
Mark D. Cahn
Partner

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
Andrew S. Nix
Partner

For an updated list of the faculty panel, please visit:
https://www.theknowledgegroup.org/webcasts/legal/employmentlabor-law/dealing-with-whistleblowers

About The Knowledge Group/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series
The Knowledge Group, brings together the world's leading authorities and industry participants through informative two-hour webcasts that study the impact of changing regulations and help businesses succeed through proper regulatory compliance.

Visit http://theknowledgegroup.org/ for further information and inquiry.