SOX Ruling by Eighth Circuit Says Whistleblower Must Be Able To Show That “Reasonable Person” Would Have Seen a Problem

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled that a whistleblower retaliation case brought under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) must fail if no reasonable person could believe that the company’s conduct violated the law.

The decision by the appeals court in Beacom v. Oracle America, No. 15-1729 (8th Cir. June 6, 2016), confirms that even under the relaxed standard of proof adopted by the Department of Labor (DOL) for SOX cases, a whistleblower still must be able to show that a reasonable person with the same training and experience would have viewed the conduct he or she complained of as a violation of one of the laws or regulations SOX covers.

The Eighth Circuit’s decision in Beacom is available here.

Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.