On October 23, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California largely denied a motion to dismiss a whistleblower retaliation claim brought by a company’s former general counsel, ruling that: (i) the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) and Dodd-Frank anti-retaliation provisions provide for individual liability against board members; and (ii) the Dodd-Frank anti-retaliation provision protects internal whistleblowers (i.e., a whistleblower who did not complain
Employees Of Contractors Of Public Companies May Sue For Retaliation Under Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Lawson v. FMR LLC, 571 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 1158 (2014)
Plaintiffs in this case are former employees of private companies that contract to advise or manage mutual funds (collectively, “FMR”). Both plaintiffs allege that they “blew the whistle” on putative fraud relating to the mutual funds and as a result suffered retaliation from FMR. Plaintiffs filed suit in federal court alleging violations…
SOX Whistle-Blower Claim Was Untimely Filed
Coppinger-Martin v. Solis, 627 F.3d 745 (2010)
Carole Coppinger-Martin alleged that Nordstrom, Inc. violated the whistle-blower-protection provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”), 18 U.S.C. § 1514A, by terminating her employment in retaliation for her reporting to supervisors conduct she believed violated the rules and regulations of the SEC. The United States Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) dismissed Coppinger-Martin’s complaint as…