Somers

AMENDED ORDER DENYING (1) DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS; (2) PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO DISQUALIFY DEFENSE COUNSEL

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Paul Somers brought'this lawsuit against -his former employer, Digital Realty Trust, and Ellen Jacobs, a Senior Vice President at Digital Realty Trust (collectively, Digital Realty, or Defendants). See Docket No. 1 (Complaint); see also Docket No. 38 (Ellen Jacobs Deck) at ¶ 2. While Somers’ complaint pleads five separate causes of action, including claims for discrimination on the basis of his sexual orientation and defamation, Digital Realty’s current motion to dismiss challenges only one cause of action: that Digital Realty violated the anti-retaliation provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank, or DFA) where it allegedly terminated Somers’ employment in ■ retaliation for his making internal reports of securi *1092 ties law violations. See Complaint at ¶¶ 44-51; Docket No. 20 (Motion to Dismiss). Specifically, Digital Realty argues that Somers’ Dodd-Frank claim fails as a matter of law because Somers doesn’t qualify as a “whistleblower” under the statute. 1 For the reasons explained below,…