Whistleblower
The Leader in Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Defense
The whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002 dramatically raise the stakes of even the most routine
employment actions taken against employees of publicly traded
companies who make complaints or provide information or assistance
in certain qualified investigations. Since July 30, 2002,
such employees have had the right to challenge adverse actions
taken against them by filing a complaint with the Department
of Labor or by filing a civil action in federal court, often
creating a serious reputational crisis for the company.
Orrick's Employment Law Department
Orrick's Employment Law Department has been the leader in
advising employers in the post Sarbanes-Oxley era and continues
to play an active role in the development of the law under
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Orrick's extensive experience already
includes:
- advising employers on developing Sarbanes-Oxley complaint
procedures;
- investigating internal claims of wrongdoing and retaliation;
- working with audit committees in the course of investigations
of Sarbanes-Oxley covered complaints;
- representing employers in Sarbanes-Oxley proceedings
before the Department of Labor; and
- defending employers in several of the first federal court
whistleblower actions to be filed.
Orrick's Legal Crisis Communications and Securities Litigation
and Regulatory Enforcement Practices
Orrick's Sarbanes-Oxley Engagements
The following represents a selection of current and former
matters handled by Orrick attorneys involving whistleblower
claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
- Orrick represented a Fortune 500 company in the pharmaceutical
industry in one of the first cases to be filed in federal court
involving Sarbanes-Oxley claims. This case involved a relatively low
level employee in a non-financial position who claimed that his
complaints about training documentation should be covered by
Sarbanes-Oxley. This case provided an important precedent as to what
types of complaints are "covered" under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
- Orrick represented a major financial services firm in a case
involving a former research analyst who brought Sarbanes-Oxley
whistleblower claims in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York, alleging that his employment had been
terminated after he resisted pressure from the firm's investment bankers
to change the contents of a draft research report. In this case of first
impression, Orrick's attorneys successfully argued that the plaintiff's
claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act were covered by an arbitration
agreement between the plaintiff and his employer. In one of the first
published decisions involving a whistleblower claim under the Act, the
court rejected the plaintiff's argument that Sarbanes-Oxley
whistleblower claims are exempt from mandatory arbitration and granted
the firm's motion to compel arbitration.
- Orrick has represented another major financial services
firm in connection with one of the first Sarbanes-Oxley
complaints filed with the Department of Labor. In this case,
a research analyst alleged that his employer retaliated
against him after he participated in a regulatory investigation.
Orrick's attorneys successfully convinced the Department
of Labor to dismiss the complaint in its entirety.
- Orrick has advised another major financial services firm
in connection with a threatened Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower
claim made by a senior officer of the company. Orrick successfully
negotiated a resolution of the matter and avoided the filing
of complaints with the Department of Labor and the federal
courts.
- Orrick was retained by the audit committee of a Fortune
500 company to conduct an investigation into an internal
complaint of retaliation filed under the company's Sarbanes-Oxley
complaint procedures.
- Orrick currently represents another major financial services
firm in a threatened Sarbanes-Oxley claim where the client
has taken disciplinary action against an investment banker
who gave information to an outside law firm hired to investigate
the firm's role in a transaction, and then gave inconsistent
information to the SEC when it was investigating the firm's
role in the transaction.
- Orrick was retained by the audit committee of a global
energy firm to advise it on handling a threatened Sarbanes-Oxley
claim.
- Orrick has been retained by a number of technology companies
to investigate allegations of accounting and reporting improprieties.
For more information and assistance with your Sarbanes-Oxley
matters, contact:
Michael Delikat
Practice Group Leader
Employment Law
212-506-5230
mdelikat@orrick.com
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