Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
In the Courts
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the majority of an $11 million jury verdict brought by a whistleblower who claimed that his company fired him for raising concerns about possible FCPA violations. Sanford Wadler, the former general counsel of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (Bio-Rad), alleged that he was fired from Bio-Rad after he wrote a memo to a committee of the Board of Directors stating that he believed senior management was “complicit” in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations he thought were being carried out by Bio-Rad's employees in China. Though the Ninth Circuit found that a jury instruction was incorrect, and that Dodd-Frank no longer applied to the claims at issue based on intervening Supreme Court precedent, it affirmed Wadler's state claim and roughly $8 million of the jury's original award against Bio-Rad.
Mr. Wadler alleged that an internal investigation at Bio-Rad revealed several red flags about business operations in China, including unexplained payments and missing sales documentation. Mr. Wadler said that Bio-Rad's CEO, Norman Schwartz, was made aware of these issues and told Mr. Wadler that he wasn't going to take any action on the matter. Further investigation at the company revealed that Bio-Rad was mislabeling the number of products it shipped on import and export cover sheets. Instead of reporting accurate data about what was being shipped, Bio-Rad's Chinese employees were using an “under the covers” scheme, where they failed to report a significant portion of extra free products that they were shipping to certain customers. Employees in China had also entered into unauthorized contracts which permitted distributors to receive unapproved incentive payments.
This premium content is locked for Business Crimes Bulletin subscribers only
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
- Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
- Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
- Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Compliance Officers: Recent Regulatory Guidance and Enforcement Actions and Mitigating the Risk of Personal Liability
This article explores legal developments over the past year that may impact compliance officer personal liability.