The Supreme Court Considers Whether SOX Protects Employees of Private Companies From Retaliation for Blowing the Whistle
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lawson v. FMR LLC, a case in which the Court is expected to clarify whether the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) cover employees of private companies that contract with public companies. Section 806 of SOX prohibits a publicly-traded company—or any officer, employee, contractor, subcontractor, or agent of a publicly-traded company—from retaliating against an “employee” who reports suspected violations of Securities and Exchange Commission rules or federal fraud laws. The word “employee” in the statute is not defined. The issue before the Court is whether the whistleblower protections are limited to employees of public companies or extend as well to employees of privately held contractors and subcontractors of public companies.