UBS Whistleblower Case Creates Avenue to Upend Retaliation Test

Whistleblowers across various industries potentially face a heightened standard for proving retaliation now that the US Supreme Court is on course to clarify the burden-shifting framework in a case involving a former UBS employee.

The justices agreed earlier this week to hear a former UBS Securities LLC research strategist’s whistleblower case, the crux of which turns on whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires him to show that the bank fired him with retaliatory intent, not just that the protected disclosure was a contributing factor to the decision.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit last year overturned a $1.7 ...