Judge Denies New York Fed Employee Whistleblower Protection Over Firing
Jonathan Stempel
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York by a former bank examiner who claimed the Fed fired her after she refused to change certain findings about Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan ruled that the failure by the former examiner, Carmen Segarra, to connect her disclosure of Goldman’s alleged violations to her May 2012 firing was “fatal” to her whistleblower lawsuit. Abrams also said Segarra could not file an amended lawsuit.
“Congress sought to protect employees of banking agencies … who adequately allege that they have suffered retaliation for providing information regarding a possible violation of a ‘law or regulation,’” the judge wrote. “Plaintiff has not done so.”
Segarra’s findings that Goldman’s conflict-of-interest practices may have violated merely an “advisory letter” that did not carry the force of law did not entitle her to whistleblower protection under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, Abrams said.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2014/04/24/327190.htm
