Under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, Must Whistleblower–Employees Prove Their Employer Acted With Retaliatory Intent?

Abstract

Case at a Glance: Petitioner Trevor Murray, a financial expert for respondent UBS Securities (UBS), was fired after he complained to his supervisor that the UBS trade desk pressured him to skew his reports in favor of UBS’s commercial mortgage-backed securities business. Murray sued UBS for violating the Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower provisions. This case presents the question of whether Murray had the burden to prove that UBS’s discharge decision was motivated by retaliatory intent.

Keywords: Sarbanes-Oxley Act, whistleblower, employment law, retaliation

JEL Classification: K00, K10