House Quoted on SOX Whistleblower Ruling

Partner Bryan House was quoted by the Wisconsin Law Journal (March 11, 2014) in its article “Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Ruling Leaves Gap for Courts, Congress.” The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 decision that ruled that employees of private contractors and subcontractors of publicly traded companies are protected under the whistleblower statute is seen by many attorneys as lacking “any limiting principle” and likely to lead to a “spate of new retaliation suits.” House, who will be advising clients, particularly private company clients, “to take this issue more seriously,” said of the decision: “Both [the majority and the dissent] would have to admit that their interpretation isn’t perfect . . .The court was essentially saying [to Congress]. . . ‘We are doing the best we can, [but] you can tell us we’re wrong by adding a limiting principle’” regarding the scope of the statute as it relates to claims by employees of contractors.