December 21, 2016
Whistleblowers: 2 New SEC Enforcement Actions Over Severance/Separation Agreements
– Broc Romanek
On Monday, the SEC announced that Neustar had settled whistleblower charges for routinely entering into severance agreements that contained a broad non-disparagement clause forbidding former employees from engaging with the SEC and other regulators “in any communication that disparages, denigrates, maligns or impugns” the company. Former employees could be compelled to forfeit all but $100 of their severance pay for breaching the clause. And yesterday, the SEC settled with SandRidge Energy over separation agreements & retaliation. This WSJ article says more of these cases to come…
Just one more enforcement case as the SEC continues to hammer home the need to modify agreements that contain anti-retaliation leanings. Tune in next year to this TheCorporateCounsel.net webcast – “Whistleblowers: What Companies Should Be Doing Now“…