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DOL Home > OALJ > Whistleblower > Sarbanes-Oxley ("SOX") Whistleblower Digest: Table of Contents
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
Whistleblower Digest
Table of Contents

I.

STATUTE AND REGULATIONS

  • Statutory and Regulatory History
  • Constitutionality
  • Preemption
  • Retroactive Application
  • Statutory and Regulatory Interpretation
    • Reference to Other Federal Laws for Interpretive Guidance
    • Value of ALJ Decisions as Precedence
    • Whether Section 1513(e) Creates a Private Cause of Action
    • Chevron Deference

II.

REMOVAL TO FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT

  • Appeal of Secretary's Final Decision
  • Bad Faith
  • Collateral Estoppel
  • Dismissal of DOL Complaint, Procedure
  • Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
  • Mandamus
  • When DOL Jurisdiction Ends
  • Notice to DOL of Intent to Remove
  • Motion to Reopen

III.

PROCEDURE BEFORE AND REVIEW BY FEDERAL COURTS

  • Amendment of Complaint
  • Discovery
  • Party Not Named in Administrative Complaint
  • Judicial Notice of Administrative Record
  • Jury Trial
  • Justiciable Issues
  • Recusal
  • Standard of Review
  • Short and Plain Statement of the Case
  • Statute of Limitations
  • Summary Judgment
  • Trial Management

IV.

REQUEST FOR HEARING

  • Answer to Request for Hearing (Not Required)
  • Cross-Appeal
  • Failure to Serve Opposing Party
  • Timeliness
    • Equitable Tolling
    • Date of Receipt of OSHA Determination
    • Request for Extension of Time to File Hearing Request

V.

FILING OF COMPLAINT

  • Timeliness
    • Generally
    • Trigger Date; Final, Definitive and Unequivocal Notice
    • Private Tolling Agreement
    • Post-termination Events
    • Amendment of Complaint
    • ALJ's Authority to Raise Issue in Order to Show Cause
    • Equitable Tolling
      [filing in the wrong forum; severance agreements; ignorance of the law; etc.]
  • Filing Directly With the Secretary
  • Protected Activity Prior to Effective Date of SOX, But Adverse Action After Effective Date
  • Whether the Respondent Must File an Answer to the Complaint

VI.

PROCEDURE BEFORE ARB

  • Authority
  • Briefing
  • Consolidation of Appeals
  • Declination of Review
  • Interlocutory Appeals
  • Official Notice
  • Pro Se Litigants
  • Reconsideration
  • Standard and Scope of Review
    • Subtantial Evidence
    • ALJ Findings of Fact
    • ALJ Credibility Findings
    • New Evidence/Argument
    • Waiver
  • Stay of ARB Order
  • Substitution of Party
  • Timeliness of Petition for Review
  • Time Period for ARB Review

VII.

PROCEDURE BEFORE OALJ

  • Amendment of Complaint
  • ALJ Authority to Control Hearing
  • Claim Splitting
  • Decision and Order
  • De Novo Proceedings
  • Discovery
  • Pro Se Litigants
  • Reconsideration
  • Recusal
  • Remand to OSHA
  • Service by ALJ
  • Subpoenas
  • Summary Decision
  • Time Calculations
  • Witnesses

VIII.

PROTECTION OF INFORMATION; PRIVACY; CONFIDENTIALITY

  • Admonishments
  • Complaint and Investigatory Materials
  • Discovery
  • Judicial Restraint in Drafting Decision
  • Protective Order
  • Pseudonyms
  • Public Hearing
  • Publication of Decisions
  • Sealing the Record
  • Striking Privileged Information

IX.

PRIVILEGES AND NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS

  • Attorney-Client Privilege
  • Litigation Privilege
  • Non-Disclosure Agreements

X.

COVERED RESPONDENT

  • Non-Publicly Traded Company
    [Non-Profit; Governmental Entity; Contractor; Representative, etc.]
  • Non-Publicly Traded Subsidiary of Publicly Traded Parent, Generally
  • Pleading; Amendment of Complaint
  • Agency, Piercing the Corporate Veil, Intertwined Operations
  • Extraterritorial Coverage
  • Joint Venture
  • Not a Publicly Traded Company at the Time of the Adverse Action
  • Section 15(d) Exempt Company
  • Liability of Individuals
  • Liability of Company Engaged for Turnaround/Corporate Restructuring

XI.

COVERED EMPLOYEE

  • Employee of Non-Publicly Traded Company
  • Employee of Non-Publicly Traded Subsidiary of Publicly Traded Parent
  • Employee Whose Work Was Outside the United States
  • Contractor
  • Former Employee

XII.

ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS; SEVERANCE AGREEMENTS

  • Arbitration Agreements
  • Severance Agreements

XIII.

BURDEN OF PROOF AND PRODUCTION

   A.

   IN GENERAL

   B.

   PRIMA FACIE CASE

   C.

   ADVERSE ACTION

  • In General
    • After-Acquired Evidence
    • Complainant's Subjective Belief
    • Evidence of Prior Acts
    • Former Employee
    • Reasonable Employee/Materially Adverse Standard (Burlington Northern)
    • Summary Decision
    • Tangible Job Consequence
  • Specific Conduct
    • Benefits
    • Blacklisting
    • Breach of Confidentiality
    • Constructive Discharge
    • Demotion/Reduced Responsibilities
    • Failure to Hire
    • Paid Administrative Leave
    • Failure to Promote
    • Hostile Work Environment
    • Increased Scrutiny of Work
    • Layoffs/Reorganization
    • Litigation Conduct
    • Offering Severance Benefits in Return for a General Release
    • Performance Evaluation
    • Refusal to Communicate With the Complainant
    • Setting Conditions About Continued Employment
    • Transfer
    • Termination From Employment

   D.

   CAUSATION

  • Contributing Factor/Motiving Factor Standard
  • Adverse Inference
  • Summary Decision
  • Temporal Proximity
  • Respondent's Knowledge
  • Complainant's Admission of Misconduct

   E.

   PROTECTED ACTIVITY

  • Definitively and Specifically Standard
  • Fraud Against Shareholders

   F.

   PRETEXT

   G.

   DUAL MOTIVE

   H.

   CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE STANDARD

XIV.

DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES

   A.

   REINSTATEMENT

  • After-Acquired Evidence
  • Enforcement
  • Impossibility
  • Front Pay
  • Procedure
  • Sanctions
  • Stay

   B.

   COMPENSATORY DAMAGES

   C.

   SPECIAL DAMAGES

   D.

   PUNITIVE DAMAGES

   E.

   ATTORNEYS' FEES

XV.

FRIVOLOUS COMPLAINT; SANCTIONS; COMPLAINANT'S PARTICIPATION IN WRONGFUL CONDUCT

XVI.

SETTLEMENTS

XVII.

DISMISSALS AND WITHDRAWALS

  • Dismissal for Cause
  • Voluntary Dismissal

XVIII.

ATTORNEYS AND REPRESENTATIVES

XIX.

BANKRUPTCY

XX.

RES JUDICATA

XXI.

EVIDENCE

XXII.

IMMUNITY

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

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