In this episode I visit with Tom Sporkin, partner at Buckley Sandler. Sporkin has a whistleblower practice. He spent some 20+ years at the SEC, ending his tenure at the Chief of the office of Market Intelligence. In this episode I continue my exploration of the implications and fallout from the Supreme Court decision in Digital Realty Trust v. Somers. Sporkin discusses his views on the decision and how the SEC created the regulations around the whistleblower protections under Dodd-Frank.
Sporkin explains the overlap and interplay of Dodd-Frank, SOX and other rights or remedies a whistleblower can avail themselves. He details the steps that a whistleblower needs to take to not only protect themselves from retaliation but also the rights for potential financial redress to whistleblowers. Finally, we discuss the role of whistleblower counsel in conjunction with the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower to help both protect whistleblowers against retaliation and discrimination but also fulfill the SEC’s role of protecting investors in public companies.
It is a fascinating interview. If you are a potential whistleblower, you certainly need to under the rights and timeline-obligations that you have under federal laws; if you are a Chief Compliance Officer, you need to understand how the Digital Realty Trust decision may impact your compliance program going forward and if you are in a company, you need to understand both the role of the SEC and what rights & obligations your organization has after the Supreme Court decision.