How Well Has Sarbanes-Oxley Fared as an Employment Law?

Not all that well according to the views of Professor Larry Ribstein, a professor at the University of Illinois law school. His post, Sarbanes-Oxley as employment law was sparked by a Wall Street Journal article pointing out, among the other things, the problems that lodging enforcement powers with the decidedly non-financial oriented OSHA has caused.



But some complaints are rolling in. It's hard not to at least look at a story that begins:

It's past midnight when a lone informant steps from the parking garage shadows and stamps out a lipstick-stained Marlboro Light. The top brass, she whispers, has looted the company, defrauded shareholders and covered up a toxic dump responsible for dozens of deaths. She hands over a stack of documents. Then a car screeches and she dashes away.

That's how a recent Seattle Times story on whistleblowing under Sarbanes Oxley begins. One of the points discussed in the story is how well some of the ventures formed to help compliance, like Ethicspoint, are doing in that venture.