Allen Roberts, a Member of the Firm in the Labor and Employment in the New York office, was quoted in an article on the possibility that whistleblowers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may fare better under the Obama administration.
The article, "Whistleblowers May Do Better Under Obama," also said that whistleblowers who bring claims under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 may have more success than SOX claimants.
The article cited statistics that as of late June, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had received 154 whistleblower cases in fiscal 2009, and found only three complaints to have merit.
"I think one interpretation of these statistics is that companies are doing what they should do, and that the law has the effect of prevention or deterrence, and that these statistics affirm that the law has done exactly what it should do," said Roberts.
Noting the structure of the administrative process and availability of review in a United States Court of Appeals, Roberts said it's unlikely that the outcomes of SOX whistleblower claims would be impacted by the Obama administration taking over and it was too early to say how ARRA whistleblowers would fare.