|
 |
First Sarbanes Whistleblower Decision Sides With CFO July 19, 2004 (SmartPros) An administrative law judge with the Department of Labor ruled that small-town Virginia-based bank Cardinal Bankshares Corporation fired its chief financial officer in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). The ruling is the first decision under the SOX whistleblower protections, Section 806, enacted in 2002.
In Welch v. Cardinal Bankshares Corp. (No. 2003-SOX-15), David Welch alleged that he was fired by his employer because he had discovered potential accounting misconduct.
Cardinal Bankshares' stated its reason for firing Welch was that he refused to attend a company internal investigation without his personal attorney. The bank said this constituted a failure to cooperate with the investigation that was instigated by allegations of wrongdoing by Welch as CFO.
Administrative Law Judge Stephen Purcell ruled that Welch was fired in retaliation for his whistleblower activities -- not for demanding a personal attorney at the investigation -- and ordered Cardinal Bankshares to re-hire the CFO, pay him back wages, and reimburse him for attorney fees and other costs and expenses.
The case sets an unclear precedent on whether employees can bring their own counsel to internal investigations, according to several legal commentators.
The final ruling is available on the DOL Web site. |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
