By Adam Turteltaub

The US Supreme Court’s Digital Realty Trust decision has been a cause of concern within the compliance community.  In that the case the court found that the Dodd-Frank whistleblower protection provisions do not apply in instances where the whistleblower does not report the allegation to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

To better understand what this case means we sat down with Sean X. McKessy, a partner at the law firm Phillips and Cohen and the former Chief of the SEC Whistleblower Office.  As he explains in this podcast, the ruling was shocking to many.  It puts employees considering reporting an issue into a more difficult position since they may potentially lose protections if they only report internally.  That will likely increase the likelihood of them taking their concerns directly to the government and, potentially, bypassing internal channels.

As a result, he argues, it is now more important than ever for compliance teams, and the organization as a whole, to underscore that even if the law does not promise protection against retaliation, the institution does.

Listen in to learn more about what the decision means and what compliance teams can due to help their own internal reporting efforts.