Ellington v. Giacoumakis

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In Brief

The Court found that a whistleblower is protected by Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation provisions where the employer terminated the employee before the employee could contact the SEC.

 

What Happened in Court

In Ellington, the court decided that an employee is protected from retaliation “whether or not the employer wins the race to the SEC’s door with a termination notice.” This means that an employee’s disclosure of possible securities violations to the company’s compliance officer protected him from retaliation without his having to go to the SEC first.