The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an award of $5 million to a whistleblower who suffered retaliation in the workplace as a result of their disclosures.
According to the SEC award determination order, the whistleblower provided information leading SEC staff to open an investigation. The whistleblower also provided critical documentation that “evidenced possible wrongdoing and helped save time and resources” in the investigation, reported the wrongdoing promptly, and suffered a “unique hardship” because the company terminated the whistleblower after he or she raised concerns with a supervisor.
“The whistleblower award today is the seventh award the SEC has announced to individual whistleblowers in the last month,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, in an accompanying press release. “These awards demonstrate the valuable contributions whistleblowers make to the protection of markets and investors, and we encourage people to come forward with information about possible securities law violations.”
The SEC whistleblower program, created in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Act, has awarded approximately $430 million to 80 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012. Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with original, timely, and credible information that leads to successful enforcement action. Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.