Last revised: November 22, 2023
The MoFo Confidential Hotline is provided by Morrison & Foerster LLP (the “Firm”) and it allows you to report certain misconduct, irregularities or other noncompliance connected to the Firm and its business practices and processes (as described below) through an online website, a telephone hotline, and when so provided by applicable law, at an in-person meeting (the “Hotline”).
The website and the telephone hotline through which you can report your concern are operated by NAVEX, established at 5500 Meadows Road, Suite 500, Lake Oswego, OR 97032, United States (“NAVEX”), the Firm’s independent service provider of the Hotline.
This Notice sets out the rights that apply to anyone (i.e., reporting individuals) who uses the Hotline to report their concerns. The Notice also provides more information about how the Hotline works, including when and how it may be used. Rights and practices may vary among the countries in which we operate to reflect local practices and legal requirements.
The use of the Hotline is voluntary. The Hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for you to ask questions, or report compliance-related concerns.
The scope of reportable concerns varies per country. The Hotline may be used globally for reporting important concerns about the Firm’s business activities, such as issues relating to accounting, accounting controls, auditing, and corrupt practices.
When German law applies, this Hotline may be used to report concerns about certain violations of EU and German law, including issues that relate to:
If you are uncertain whether your concern falls within the above-listed scope, contact MoFoHRCompliance@mofo.com for more information.
While you are encouraged to identify yourself when making a report to the Hotline, you are not obligated to do so. The Firm will accept anonymous reports to the extent permitted by applicable law.
The Firm normally collects the following information through the Hotline: your name, title and contact details; the name and other information about others who are named in your report; a description of the concern in your report including the date and location, as well as other pertinent information for the investigation at hand; and any questions you may have. The Firm may also collect information from other sources (such as your colleagues and publicly available sources) during any subsequent investigation.
The information provided by you will be treated confidentially.
The Firm may use the information mentioned above because we have to either comply with a legal obligation imposed on the Firm or we have a legitimate interest to investigate the report that you submitted to us.
When you call into the Hotline, a representative from NAVEX will answer your telephone call. NAVEX does not capture the telephone number of any incoming calls so that your call-in information can remain anonymous. NAVEX also does not record the calls. You will speak with a Communication Specialist who will ask you for several items of information, document your input, and ask follow-up questions to clarify information. Please note that the Communication Specialist is not able to answer any questions about ethics or policy and cannot advise you on any course of action.
When so provided by applicable law, you can ask for a physical meeting to report your concern.
After the initial report or inquiry is made, a detailed record is prepared and sent by NAVEX directly to the Firm’s Human Resources Department. Depending on the nature of the matter, Human Resources may communicate the report and related documentation to appropriate personnel at the Firm who may need to be informed, such as representatives of Legal, Internal Audit or Finance for further investigation and resolution. We might need additional information and clarifications from you as the investigation progresses, in which case we will contact you again. Where necessary, the Human Resources Department may also need to notify members of the Firm’s leaders of any findings for purposes of determining any disciplinary action and for transparency purposes. The information may also be shared with the Firm’s external advisers (such as lawyers and/or auditors) and competent authorities (such as regulators and/or police), as allowed or required by applicable law. When required under applicable law or when we deem it is appropriate for us to do so, we will inform you about the investigation’s progress and the actions taken following the outcome of the investigation within the timeframes prescribed by applicable law.
When required under applicable law or when we deem it is appropriate for us to do so, the Firm aims to inform each person implicated in a report about the allegations against them within an appropriate timeframe, but will seek not to disclose your identity. Implicated individuals may have the right to react to the information reported by you. Please note that the information you supply may result in decisions that affect employees of the Firm and other third parties involved in the relevant incident. We therefore ask you to provide only information that you have reasonable grounds to believe is accurate. Knowingly providing inaccurate or misleading information may result in disciplinary actions or even civil or criminal liability. Also, where possible, any report should be limited to facts that are relevant to the report and the follow-up investigation.
Retaliation against any Firm employee or anyone who seeks advice, raises a concern, or reports misconduct in good faith is strictly prohibited. If anyone retaliates against someone who has made a valid report to the Hotline, the Firm will take appropriate action — even if it later turns out that the person making the report was mistaken in reporting the matter originally. If you think that you, or anybody else involved, have been retaliated against for raising a concern, you should contact the Firm immediately at HotlineComplaints@mofo.com.
The Firm has contracted with NAVEX to protect the confidentiality and security of your personal information, and NAVEX is only permitted to use your personal information for the provision of the Hotline. Information we receive from NAVEX and any personal information that you provide to us will be stored in our Firm’s database with limited access.
Beyond NAVEX, other transfers of personal information may take place to countries that have different data protection rules than are found in the country where you work or are from, including to other Firm offices (see here for a list of Firm office locations) or vendors, as required to investigate the report and administer the Hotline.
As required by applicable law, we implement safeguards to protect your personal information when we transfer it outside your country of residence. For example:
Information relating to a report made via the Hotline will be archived or deleted based on the following criteria: when the investigation has been closed and no further action is needed; when the time period for any relevant litigation has lapsed; and when our obligations for record keeping relating to investigations have lapsed. If a report is considered unfounded, the personal information associated with the report will be securely destroyed or erased promptly when required by applicable law.
If you would like to request to access, correct, update, suppress, restrict, delete personal information, or object to the processing of personal information (to the extent these rights are provided to you by applicable law), you may contact us at compliance@mofo.com. We will respond to your request consistent with applicable law.
You can contact our Data Protection Officer at compliance@mofo.com. You may also lodge a complaint with a data protection authority where you have your habitual residence or place of work or where an alleged infringement of applicable data protection law occurs (see here for the list of EEA authorities and here for the UK Information Commissioner’s Office’s contact details).
If you have any questions or concerns about the Hotline, contact us at HotlineComplaints@mofo.com. Note that you may also have the right to report your concerns about violations of EU and German laws externally to competent authorities in EU Member States, such as the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz). We do encourage you, however, to first contact us at HotlineComplaints@mofo.com if you have information that suggests a report is not being handled properly and we will try to independently resolve your concerns about the effectiveness of the Hotline and subsequent investigation.
For more information on how the Firm processes personal information in an employment context, refer to the Firm’s Personal Information Protection Notice. For more information on how the Firm processes personal information that we collect when you use our services or access our websites, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We will update this notice from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.