The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals made an important ruling in August, deciding that the whistleblower protections in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act do not cover individuals who work for companies located outside the United States. In the ruling , the court sided with Siemens AG, a well-known German engineering and technology firm, in a case involving a former company attorney based in Taiwan who claimed he was terminated after he reported a potential issue of fraud.