Sylvester, et al. v. Parexel International LLC

NCLC urged the Administrative Review Board to refuse to expand Sarbanes-Oxley's whistleblower provisions to cover two employees who allegedly suffered retaliation after reporting that coworkers falsely recorded data from clinical drug trials. The administrative law judge ruled that the plaintiffs could not obtain whistleblower protection because the alleged conduct was not adverse to investors' interests. NCLC argued that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) only offers protection when claims of shareholder fraud are raised. NCLC warned that using SOX as a catch-all for wrongful termination cases would dramatically expand the statute.

The United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) Administrative Review Board (ARB) issued an en banc decision significantly broadening the scope of what constitutes protected activity under the whistleblower protection provisions in Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX).

Amicus brief filed 12/30/10. Decided 5/25/11.