On September 25, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit clarified what a whistleblower plaintiff must allege to demonstrate they had a “reasonable belief” that their employer violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”). In Ronnie v. Office Depot, LLC, the Eleventh Circuit adopted an employer-friendly “totality of the circumstances” standard for evaluating whether a plaintiff’s belief was “reasonable.” Ronnie is a win for employers in the Eleventh Circuit because it makes clear that, to establish that they engaged in protected activity under SOX, a plaintiff must link their reasonable belief of alleged violations to elements of securities fraud and provide evidence substantiating their belief.

Background

To prevail on a SOX whistleblower claim, a plaintiff must establish that (1) he engaged in protected activity, (2) the employer knew or suspected that the employee engaged in a protected activity, (3) the employee suffered an adverse action, and (4) an inference could be made that the protected activity was a contributing factor in the unfavorable action. To establish that the plaintiff engaged in protected activity, they must demonstrate that they subjectively believed and that a reasonable person in like circumstances would objectively believe that the employer engaged in SOX prohibited conduct.

The Facts

The plaintiff, Chris Ronnie, worked for Office Depot as a senior financial analyst tasked with ensuring data integrity. Ronnie used company data...

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