In my nearly three years of dutifully slotting insider trading cases under the Familial Betrayal Advisory System, virtually all of the logical combinations of family member betrayals have arisen (husband betraying wife, wife betraying husband, brother betraying sister, boyfriend betraying girlfriend, brother-in-law betraying brother-in-law, and even divorcee betraying divorcee).  One relationship has somehow remained pure, however: parent and child. But not anymore!

On June 3, 2011, the SEC charged Dean A. Goetz with insider trading in the securities of Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. prior to an announcement that the company would be acquired in a tender offer. The SEC alleges that Goetz traded based on material, nonpublic information that he misappropriated from his daughter, a lawyer who, at the time, worked for the law firm representing Advanced Medical Optics in the transaction. The SEC says that the daughter worked on the transaction at her parents' house over the holidays in December 2008, using common work spaces such as her father's home office. Unbeknownst to his daughter, the SEC alleges, Goetz misappropriated confidential deal information during the visit.

 I have no daughters myself (four boys!), so I'm in uncharted waters here. But I'm going to slot this father-daughter case in the Low category ("Someday We'll Laugh About It"). That puts it with other relatively low-drama cases such as SEC v. Melton and SEC v. Gangavarapu. If there is anyone out there with significant daughter experience who wants to weigh in, please do so in the comments below.