Supreme Court extends whistleblower protections to employees at private firms

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/04/supreme-court-extends-whistleblower-protections-to-employees-at-private-firms/



Supreme Court extends whistleblower protections to employees at private firms
By Reuters
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 12:25 EST
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that employees at private firms that contract with publicly traded companies are subject to whistleblower protections.

In a 6-3 vote along non-ideological lines, the court ruled that two whistleblowers were legally protected against retaliation after they raised concerns to their employer, Fidelity Investments parent FMR LLC, about how some mutual funds were being managed. Whistleblowers at public companies already are protected from employer retaliation.

The court was interpreting part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a 2002 law passed by Congress that set standards for all U.S. publicly traded company boards, management and public accounting firms.

Although Fidelity’s mutual funds are public companies and are required to file reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, management services are provided by private companies under contract with the funds, including Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC.