Hansen v. Musk, 122 F.4th 1162 (9th Cir. 2024)
Karl Hansen sued Tesla, Inc., its CEO (Elon Musk) and another entity alleging he was retaliated against for reporting “misconduct” at Tesla. The district court ordered most of Hansen’s claims to arbitration except his claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), which cannot be compelled to arbitration pursuant to a predispute arbitration agreement (18 U.S.C. § 1514A(e)). Following the arbitrator’s decision in their favor, defendants filed a motion before the district court to lift the stay of proceedings and to confirm the arbitration award, which was granted. Defendants then filed motions to dismiss the entire suit (including the SOX claim), arguing that the arbitrator’s findings precluded Hansen from relitigating the issues that were key to his SOX claim. The district court granted the motion to dismiss. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal.