United States Second Circuit

The district court's order granting defendants' motion to dismiss a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower retaliation suit is affirmed, where: 1) the district court followed an outdated and inappropriate "definitively and specifically" standard set by a non-precedential 2nd Circuit case; 2) the Administrative Review Board (ARB) recently abrogated the "definitively and specifically" standard, finding it inapposite to Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower protection, and instead requires plaintiff's subjective belief in a violation and that the belief is objectively reasonable; and 3) in applying the new reasonable belief standard, plaintiff failed to allege evidence that it was objectively reasonable to believe that the activity he witnessed and reported constituted a violation of the laws and regulations listed in 18 U.S.C. section 1514A.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/08/2014
• Published 08/08/2014

Judges

• LIVINGSTON

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel