BNA Books' New 2010 Cumulative Supplement to 'Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, Second Edition' Helps Practitioners Litigate and Advise

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BNA Books, a division of specialized news and information publisher BNA, announced today the publication of the 2010 Cumulative Supplement to Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, Second Edition.

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Following passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which introduced criminal as well as civil liability for retaliating against certain types of whistleblowers in the private sector, retaliation claims are being filed with increasing frequency. Attorneys filing or defending these claims will want to stay on top of expanded whistleblower protections and related procedural developments in both the private and public sectors. Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, Second Edition presents the nuts and bolts of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other applicable federal and state laws, tracking litigation and new legislation in detail, providing up-to-date information on the latest issues, procedural problems, and tactics and strategies.

The 2010 Cumulative Supplement includes the new whistleblower provisions under two new federal laws:

• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, which creates whistleblower protections for employees in the health care sector
• The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank" or the "Act"), which provides expansive protection to whistleblowers in the financial services industries, creates new protections for employees who report concerns to the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, creates new financial incentives for employees to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and which significantly strengthens the Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower provisions by providing for trial by jury, specifying that privately-held subsidiaries of publicly-traded parent corporations are generally covered, lengthening time periods under statutes of limitations, and providing for a direct right of action in federal court

The Supplement also discusses significant new cases interpreting the Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower provisions, including whether in-house counsel may use privileged documents to pursue their claims of retaliation, and whether whistleblowers must actually believe that their employer engaged in any of the covered forms of unlawful activity.

In addition, the 2010 Cumulative Supplement examines new cases in 19 states regarding the common law doctrine of wrongful termination in violation of public policy, which address whether employee complaints about the following subjects are legally protected:

• Adequate staffing in child care facilities
• Abuse of tax-exempt status
• Alleged non-compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act
• Practices in the gambling industry
• Making repairs without appropriate permits
• Preferential treatment for veterans

The 2010 Cumulative Supplement provides all the new developments practitioners need to be aware of to effectively litigate and advise on whistleblower cases in this contentious area of employment law.

Daniel P. Westman and Nancy M. Modesitt are the authors of the main volume and supplement. Mr. Westman is a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP in McLean, VA. He has represented clients in whistleblower cases since 1982, and has tried numerous whistleblower cases in the courts and before the U.S. Department of Labor. Ms. Modesitt is an Assistant Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she teaches Employment Law, Torts and Legal Writing. Ms. Modesitt has represented the U.S. Department of Justice with regard to claims brought under the Civil Service Reform Act.

BNA is a leading private publisher of news and information products for professionals in law and business. In addition to Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, BNA's Book Division publishes International Labor and Employment Laws, Volumes I and II; The Fair Labor Standards Act; Employment Discrimination Law; Sexual Harassment in Employment Law; Age Discrimination in Employment Law; Privacy in Employment Law; Employment Termination: Rights and Remedies; Reductions in Force in Employment Law; Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets in Employment Law, Volumes I and II; The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act; and other titles in legal specialties. For a free BNA Books catalog, call 1-800-960-1220 or send an e-mail request to [email protected]. The BNA Books website, including an online catalog, can be found at bnabooks.com.

The 2010 Cumulative Supplement to Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, Second Edition (384 pp. Softcover/Order #1878-PREL10/$180.00 plus tax, shipping, and handling) may be purchased alone, or with the main volume (456 pp. Hardcover /Order #9878-PREL10/$275.00 plus tax, shipping, and handling) from BNA Books, PO Box 7814, Edison, NJ 08818-7814. Telephone orders: 1-800-960-1220. Fax orders: 1-732-346-1624. A 10% discount is available on print copies of books when ordering from the website at bnabooks.com. Please note that discounts cannot be combined.

SOURCE BNA Books