On March 4, 2014, in Lawson v. FMR LLC, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this whistleblower protection applies not only to employees of publicly owned companies, but also to employees of privately owned contractors and subcontractors of public companies.
In 2002, after corporate fraud at Enron led to the company's collapse, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Under SOX's main whistleblower protection provision, an employee of a publicly traded company who claims retaliation for "blowing the whistle" on fraudulent conduct or conduct that violates securities laws can sue his or her employer for reinstatement, back pay, compensatory damages, and attorney's fees.
In NYS the employee can file in civil court within one year of the alleged retaliation incident and may be able to recover back pay, get reinstated to their job if they were fired, and be reimbursed for attorney’s costs.
However, before they can file suit, employees must first report to their employers and allow them a reasonable amount of time to make corrections.
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