The Evolving Landscape Of Whistleblower Claims Under Dodd-Frank

Congress is poised to overturn two recent judicial interpretations of the whistleblower protections of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank). On Sept. 23, 2019, the Whistleblower Programs Improvement Act (WPIA) was introduced in the U.S. Senate.¹ If enacted, the WPIA would overturn the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers, 138 S. Ct. 767 (2018), which held that the anti-retaliation whistleblower protections of Dodd-Frank do not attach when a whistleblower only reports conduct through a corporation’s internal controls, and instead apply only when a whistleblower reports information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition, the WPIA would abrogate a growing body of decisions by federal courts — recently joined by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — holding that predispute agreements to arbitrate Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims are enforceable, and would