On February 8, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that whistleblower-plaintiffs need not prove that adverse employment actions were motivated by their employer’s retaliatory intent to obtain protection under the anti-retaliation provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”).  Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC, No. 22-660 (Feb. 8, 2024).  This decision resolved a Circuit split and clarified the whistleblower’s burden under SOX is to prove that the protected activity was merely a contributing factor to the retaliatory act.

On May 1, 2023, the United States Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari filed by alleged whistleblower against his former employer, a financial institution, in a case that is expected to clarify when the termination of a whistleblower amounts to unlawful retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.