Law360 Interviews The Employment Law Group® Managing Principal, R. Scott Oswald, on Potential Effects of Report Claiming that the SEC Inadvertently Disclosed a Whistleblower’s Identity

R. Scott Oswald, managing principal of The Employment Law Group® law firm, was recently interviewed by Law360 and provided commentary on a report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may have inadvertently exposed the identity of a corporate whistleblower.  Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the SEC had unintentionally revealed the identity of a whistleblower during the course of the agency’s investigation of Pipeline Trading Systems LLC.

Some commentators have predicted that because of the SEC’s purported slipup, whistleblowers may be less likely to come forward, fearing that their anonymity may be compromised.  However, in his interview on the subject with Law360, Oswald, who represents employees and whistleblowers, noted that the reason that many whistleblowers decide to file a complaint with the SEC is because the whistleblowers have already complained to their employers to no avail.

Specifically, according to Oswald, “once [whistleblowers] have made the decision that the company is not going to act responsibly, they’re going to go to the SEC.”

“If anything”, Oswald said “the SEC’s goof would persuade potential whistleblowers to file anonymous complaints through counsel, rather than going directly to the commission”.

The article, entitled “SEC Whistleblower Reveal Won’t Sink Program, Attys Say”, appeared in the April 25, 2012 edition of the online legal news and commentary service, Law360.

The Employment Law Group® law firm is a leader in the field of whistleblower law and has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have exposed illegal activity by their employer.

Tagged: Enforcement Bodies, P.C., Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), The Employment Law Group, P.C.