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Kevin Wallace v. Andeavor Corporation

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 17-50927 · judgment February 15, 2019

Certiorari denied · October 7, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Fifth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

The anti-retaliation provision of the SarbanesOxley Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1514A(a), forbids retaliation against an employee because he or she disclosed to certain federal or company officials information about conduct which the employee “reasonably believe[d]” violated certain federal prohibitions. The employee’s belief must have been objectively reasonable. The question presented is: Should the determination under § 1514A(a) as to whether an employee’s belief was objectively reasonable be made by the trier of fact, so long as reasonable minds could disagree, or by the court as a matter of law?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
—

For respondent
Jonathan Saul Franklin
Norton Rose Fulbright US, LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 07 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jul 17 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
  3. Jul 08 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent Andeavor Corporation to respond filed.
  4. Jul 01 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 2, 2019)