The Department of Labor has ruled that Merrill Lynch did not violate the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act when it dismissed broker James Altschul, The Wall Street Journal reports. Altschul had charged that he was let go for cooperating with the government in an ongoing squawk-box investigation of large Wall Street firms. The Labor Department held that there was “no reasonable cause to believe” ML had violated the law, but rather it was Altschul’s own alleged misconduct in the office that led to his dismissal. The former broker is expected to appeal the ruling.
