In June, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear oral argument in Asadi v. G.E. Energy (USA) LLC, a novel appeal over whether the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s whistleblower statute give protections to informants who report that there have been possible Foreign Corrupt Practices Act abroad. The lawsuit had been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on the grounds that the Supreme Court’s decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. precluded applying the anti-retaliation provisions to behavior that occurred outside this country.
The plaintiff, Khaled Asadi, is a citizen of both Iraq and the United States. He had sued GE Energy (USA) LLC, his former employer, last year claiming that the company had violated these provisions when they fired him because he allegedly told his superiors that about a possible hiring situation that could violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He says that he spotted the alleged wrongdoing while working temporarily with Iraqi authorities in Jordan to obtain business for GE Energy.
After the district court in Texas threw out his case, Asadi filed his appeal, arguing that the Anti-Retaliation provisions specifically protect employees who make disclosures of any rule, law, or regulation under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s jurisdiction. He also maintains that American citizens working abroad who provide information about securities violations should be protected when those violations possess “extraterritorial applicability.”
Oral argument before the Fifth Circuit is scheduled for the week of June 3.
If you suspect that you were the victim of Texas securities fraud, please email or call Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD, LLP right away.
More Blog Posts:
Texas Senator’s Bill Would Make Plaintiffs’ Attorneys in Private Securities Cases Disclose Possible Conflicts Of Interest That Might Have Affected Client Retention, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 5, 2013
Galleon Group Founder’s Brother Pleads Not Guilty to Insider Trading, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, April 2, 2013