One important areas of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) of 2002 is to protect whistle blowers who speak out against a company not performing due diligence with document management and email archiving compliance. Section 1107 of SOX states:

“Whoever knowingly, with the intent to retaliate, takes any action harmful to any person, including interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person, for providing to a law enforcement officer any truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of any federal offence, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.”

Since its inception, whistle blowers have not fared particularly well before the Department of Labor, which is the agency responsible for interpreting and enforcing SOX claims.

According to the Conforto Law Group in Boston, the government ruled in favor of whistleblowers 17 times out of 1,273 complaints filed since 2002. Another 841 cases were dismissed. Many of the dismissals were made on the grounds that employees worked for a corporate subsidiary.

Many cases hinge on whether SOX should apply to whistleblowers who work for subsidiaries of public companies. Department of Labor spokesperson, Sharon Worthy, doesn’t think so: “The plain language of the statute only applies to publicly traded corporations.” But Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), who helped draft SOX’s whistleblower clause, sharply disagrees: “Otherwise, a company that wants to do something shady, could just do it in their subsidiary.”

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a complex series of rules. When implemented within a business’ daily operations, SOX can be an effective tool for protecting whistle blowers who have the courage to speak out against a company’s illegal conduct. Conforto Law Group recommends anyone who is or will soon become a whistle blower, be prepared to invest some time to finding legal representation to effectively protect your position. To ensure that your rights are fully protected, consider selecting a law firm that specializes in employment law. Make sure you have your documentation in order, including the appropriate emails with printed out attachments.