Key takeaways:

• Courts in the Southern District of New York and the Southern District of Texas recently have ruled on important aspects regarding the scope and applicability of new whistleblower protection rules enacted by the Dodd-Frank Act.
• On June 28, in Asadi v. G.E. Energy (USA), LLC, Judge Nancy F. Atlas (S.D. Tex.) held that Dodd-Frank’s Anti-Retaliation Provision does not apply to conduct outside the territorial United States.
• On July 9, in Leshinsky v. Telvent GIT, S.A., Judge J. Paul Oetken (S.D.N.Y.) held that Dodd-Frank’s amendment to the whistleblower protections in Sarbanes Oxley, which protect employees of public companies’ nonpublic subsidiaries, can apply retroactively to claims that arose before the passage of Dodd-Frank in 2010.
• Both cases have implications for companies that are considering how to address potential whistleblower issues under Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank.