SEC Awards Maximum Allowable Whistleblower Payment In Its First Case Involving Alleged Retaliation Against A Whistleblower
On April 28, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it awarded the maximum allowable award to a whistleblower under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program in its first case involving alleged retaliation by an employer against an employee who reported suspected misconduct to the SEC. This award of 30 percent of the amount collected by the SEC in In the Matter of Paradigm Capital Management, Inc. and Candace King Weir equaled a payment of more than $600,000 to the employee who, according to the SEC, provided “key original information that led to the successful SEC enforcement action.”