The SEC fined a technology company $180,000 for violating whistleblower protection rules. The technology company entered into severance agreements that improperly impeded at least one former employee from communicating information to the SEC. The company's severance agreements contained a "non-disparagement" clause that forbade former employees from engaging the SEC and other regulators "in any communication that disparage[d], denigrate[d], malign[ed] or impugn[ed]" the company.
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