Rimini v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Background

Thomas Rimini filed this lawsuit on September 9, 2022. His complaint asserted a claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and sought to move Department of Labor administrative case 2022-SOX-00018 to the federal district court.

Jurisdictional framework

The court explained that Sarbanes-Oxley’s jurisdictional “kick-out” provision, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A(b)(1)(B), permits a plaintiff to bring a new action in federal district court after 180 days have passed without a final decision by the Secretary of Labor on the administrative complaint. If the Secretary issues a timely final decision within that period, the plaintiff’s recourse is to seek judicial review in the appropriate federal court of appeals within 60 days.

The public administrative docket showed that the case was docketed on March 18, 2022, and that a notice of docketing was filed on April 26, 2022. It also showed that Judge Calianos entered an order on September 8, 2022, dismissing Rimini’s complaint with prejudice and setting a deadline for removal to federal district court. Rimini filed this lawsuit the next day.

Court’s action

The court observed that Rimini appeared to have filed this action less than 180 days after filing his administrative complaint and only after a final decision had been entered. The court therefore ordered the parties to file simultaneous letter briefs by September 20, 2024, stating their positions on whether the Sarbanes-Oxley claim satisfies the provision’s jurisdictional requirements. The parties must also address whether the statute’s exhaustion requirement was satisfied for alleged retaliation occurring after September 2022, as pleaded in Rimini’s amended complaint.

The opinion orders briefing and does not decide whether the court has jurisdiction or whether the exhaustion requirement was satisfied.