|
 U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan found that
Trevor Murray, who was fired in February 2012, could not cite the
prohibitive provisions in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to avoid
arbitrating a retaliation claim arising under the Dodd Frank Act.
Dodd-Frank is the 2010 law enacted in response to the U.S. financial
crisis. Sarbanes-Oxley is a 2002 law that created enhanced
accounting standards for publicly traded U.S. companies after a
series of accounting scandals.
"Plaintiff cannot recast his claim to arise under Sarbanes-Oxley in
order to benefit from the prohibition of predispute arbitration
agreements afforded under that statute," Judge Polk Failla wrote of
Murray's case.
Though Murray "may have a claim under Sarbanes-Oxley" it is not the
issue before the court, Polk Failla added.
UBS successfully argued the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions did
not apply to Murray as he only complained to people at UBS and not
federal regulators, as required by the statute.
Murray had cited rules adopted by the SEC in 2011 interpreting the
Dodd-Frank law as extending the law's anti-retaliation provisions to
protect individuals whose disclosures were made under the earlier
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, even if the person had not complained to
regulators.
Representatives for UBS did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
[to top of second column] |
Murray was a senior commercial mortgage-backed securities strategist
from May 2011 to February 2012.
Murray's case in federal court is now on hold pending the outcome of
the arbitration proceedings with UBS.
The case is Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC, et al, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-05914.
(Reporting by Amanda Becker in
Washington; additional reporting by Nate Raymond in New York;
editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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