There is the possibility of being dragged through a lawsuit, and/or the company one works through being dragged through a lawsuit. I don't know if that is applicable here, but I have been involved in a responsible disclosure where I gave the information to a colleague, who then disclosed to the company, and the company then sent a letter threatening a lawsuit, whereas my colleague nearly got fired (the fact that he didn't was the one time I can remember the union stepping up to do something useful by defending him). Whether or not such lawsuits would hold merit, they'd be expensive for all involved, and lots of listed companies are more than happy to put the lawyers on you for invalid reasons.