The D. C. Circuit issued four opinions this week. One involved an employment contract. Two were whistleblower appeals from the Tax Court. The fourth was from FERC.
In Wright v. Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, No. 22-7004, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of claims arising out of a dispute over the meaning of an employment contract as it applied to the employer’s conduct after firing the employee. Judge Wilkins, joined by Judge Millett, reinstated claims that the employer breached a contractual obligation not to disparage the employee and had done so in a racially animated and defamatory manner. Judge Walker would have affirmed the dismissal of each of these claims.
Internal Revenue Code § 7623(b)(4) awards whistleblowers with part of the compensation from administrative actions that proceed “based on” information the whistleblower provides. In Michael Lissack v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, No. 21-1268, Judge Pillard, joined by Judge Katsas and Senior Judge Randolph, affirmed the Tax Court’s denial of a whistleblower’s claim to proceeds from a IRS tax adjustment that was not based on information the whistleblower provided even though it was discovered during the investigation launched to probe the whistleblower’s allegations. The D.C. Circuit rejected the IRS argument that the Tax Court lacked jurisdiction to review the IRS decision, explaining that § 7623(b)(4) gives the Tax Court jurisdiction over appeals of “[a]ny...
Dangote Group has dismissed as false and malicious a publication alleging that its President, Aliko Dangote, distanced himself from Tony Elumelu, describing the report as entirely baseless. In a s...