A whistleblower claiming unlawful retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act does not need to show that the employer acted with retaliatory intent to establish a valid claim, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled February 8, 2024. Instead, a plaintiff need show only that the protected activity was a contributing factor to the adverse action. The burden then shifts back to the employer to prove that it would have taken the same action regardless of the whistleblower’s protected activity. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Murray v. UBS Securities resolves a split between the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Fifth and Ninth Circuits. This ruling will make it easier for a SOX whistleblower to prevail on a SOX retaliation claim, but it also affirms that an employer can still defeat a claim by showing that it would have taken the same adverse action even without the plaintiff’s protected activity.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.