What Every Employee Of
A Public Company Should Know
About The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

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11. What will the Whistleblower Provision of Sarbanes-Oxley do to get my job back or pay my legal fees if I win? Answer: Everything! Section 806(c)(1) provides that an employee prevailing in a Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Claim “shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make the employee whole.” All relief under the Whistleblower Provision includes: (1) reinstatement with the same seniority status the employee would have had, but for the discrimination; (2) the amount of back pay, with interest; and (3) compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs, expert witness fees, and attorneys fees. The Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Provision provides an employee who wins his claim with all the federal legal rights to damages available at law and pays attorneys fees. However, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act does not provide for the payment of punitive damages.

12. Does the Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Provision cover an employee who is forced to testify before a Congressional Committee? Answer: Absolutely! In fact, when President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, he issued a statement noting Section 1514A(a)(1)(B), which specifically protects employees from retaliation by employers of public companies for providing information to or testifying before any authorized Congressional Committee.

13. If an employee wins a judgment under the Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Provision, does that preclude the employee from later filing a grievance under union rules or filing an action in state court? Answer: No it does not. Section 806(d) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Provision provides that “nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights, privileges, or remedies of any employee under any Federal or State law, or under any collective bargaining agreement.”

14. This Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Protection Law sounds too good to be true, I am afraid my Boss will just ignore it and fire me anyway. Why should my boss take the Whistleblower Provision seriously? Answer: Great question. First, your Boss will take the Sarbanes-Oxley Act seriously because if he doesn’t he could end up in jail. Section 1107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act makes it a Federal crime to “knowingly take any action that is harmful to a person, including interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of a person, because the person provided truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of a federal offense. Sarbanes-Oxley makes corporate fraud a federal crime. Your Boss could be subject to fines and a prison term of up to ten (10) years in prison.

15. Why would Congress need to protect employees of public companies from telling the truth? We have corporate officers, ombudsmen, and the Human Resources Department to protect us. Answer: What Congress realized is that when managers or officers of public corporations engage in fraud and violate state and federal laws, they often threaten to fire employees who work for them if they don’t “go along with the program.” The Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Provision is specifically designed to protect employees that disclose or provide evidence of fraud or violation of state or federal laws and regulations by public companies. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is tough because Congress does not want to permit another Enron type scandal to happen again. It protects employees from fearing for their jobs by telling the truth.

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