In 2002, Congress signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in response to several notorious corporate scandals, including those at Enron/Worldcom. The piece of legislation was aimed to hold corporate officers personally liable and to rebuild public confidence in the corporate sector. SOX, “requires violations of securities laws or breaches of fiduciary responsibility to be reported to either the chief legal officer or CEO of the company by-house attorneys or outside counsel (Reed, & Bogardus, 2015).”
While most provisions of SOX are only applicable to public businesses, at least two criminal provisions apply to nonprofit businesses: whistleblower protection and forbidding the destruction, alteration, or concealment of documents or the impediment of investigations. Section 806 created a new federal anti-retaliation protection for corporate whistleblowers. It protects those who report alleged violations relating to mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, or any rule/regulation of the of the …show more content…
OSHA will conduct an initial review of all SOX whistleblower complaints to determine whether the employee has made out a prima facie case against his or her employer. The elements of such case include the following four elements: 1) the employee was engaged in a protected activity; 2) the employer knew or suspected that the employee was engaged in the protected activity; 3) the employee suffered an unfavorable employment action; 4) circumstances exist to suggest that the protected activity was a contributing factor to the unfavorable action (Reed, & Bogardus, 2015). If retaliation occurred, OSHA will first seek to reach a settlement between the parties. OSHA has the authority to order reinstatement of the employee with back pay, restore benefits, and order other
While most provisions of SOX are only applicable to public businesses, at least two criminal provisions apply to nonprofit businesses: whistleblower protection and forbidding the destruction, alteration, or concealment of documents or the impediment of investigations. Section 806 created a new federal anti-retaliation protection for corporate whistleblowers. It protects those who report alleged violations relating to mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, or any rule/regulation of the of the …show more content…
OSHA will conduct an initial review of all SOX whistleblower complaints to determine whether the employee has made out a prima facie case against his or her employer. The elements of such case include the following four elements: 1) the employee was engaged in a protected activity; 2) the employer knew or suspected that the employee was engaged in the protected activity; 3) the employee suffered an unfavorable employment action; 4) circumstances exist to suggest that the protected activity was a contributing factor to the unfavorable action (Reed, & Bogardus, 2015). If retaliation occurred, OSHA will first seek to reach a settlement between the parties. OSHA has the authority to order reinstatement of the employee with back pay, restore benefits, and order other