DARAMOLA V. ORACLE AMERICA, INC., No. 22-15959 (9th Cir. 2024)
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The case involves a whistleblower-retaliation action brought by Tayo Daramola, a Canadian citizen, under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts. Daramola was employed by Oracle Canada, a subsidiary of Oracle America, and worked remotely from Canada. He alleged that Oracle America and its employees retaliated against him for reporting suspected fraud related to one of Oracle's software products.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Daramola's action. The court held that the whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions in the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts do not apply outside the United States. The court applied a presumption against extraterritoriality and concluded that the presumption was not overcome because Congress did not affirmatively and unmistakably instruct that the provisions should apply to foreign conduct.
The court further held that this case did not involve a permissible domestic application of the statutes, given that Daramaola was a Canadian working out of Canada for a Canadian subsidiary of a U.S. parent company. The court agreed with other circuits that the focus of the Sarbanes-Oxley anti-retaliation provision is on protecting employees from employment-related retaliation, and the locus of Daramola's employment relationship was in Canada. The court also concluded that Daramola did not allege sufficient domestic conduct in the United States in connection with his Dodd-Frank claim. The same reasoning disposed of Daramola’s California state law claims.
Court Description: Labor Law. The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a whistleblower-retaliation action brought under the Sarbanes- Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts by a Canadian citizen.
The panel held that the whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions in the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts do not apply outside the United States. The panel applied a presumption against extraterritoriality. Agreeing with other circuits, the panel concluded that the presumption was not overcome because Congress did not affirmatively and unmistakably instruct that the provisions should apply to foreign conduct.
The panel further held that this case did not involve a permissible domestic application of the statutes, where the plaintiff was a Canadian working out of Canada for a Canadian subsidiary of a U.S. parent company. Agreeing with other circuits, the panel concluded that the focus of the Sarbanes-Oxley anti-retaliation provision is on protecting employees from employment-related retaliation, and the locus of the plaintiff’s employment relationship was in Canada. The panel concluded that the plaintiff also did not allege sufficient domestic conduct in the United States in connection with his Dodd-Frank claim. And the same reasoning disposed of the plaintiff’s California state law claims.
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