President Obama, on May 11, 2016, signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act (the Act). The Act contains strong new protections for corporate whistleblowers. Under the Act, “corporations will no longer be able to threaten to sue employees for lawfully disclosing trade secrets as a way to retaliate against and silence whistleblowers,” said Stephen Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblower Center.

Prior to this law’s enactment, whistleblowers potentially faced civil claims that they improperly disclosed trade secrets when reporting potential wrongdoing. The new law addresses this by giving employees immunity if they disclose trade secrets to the government as part of a whistleblower report. In order to secure this immunity, the Act provides specific procedures for employees to follow in order to guarantee the immunity applies. Finally, the Act requires employers to notify their employees of these new rights and procedures.