## Facts

- Robert Hanna, a former executive of WCI Communities, Inc., alleged he was terminated after raising concerns about the company’s financial projections and disclosures.
- Hanna sued WCI and certain individual officers asserting retaliation claims under:
  - Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblower provision, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A.
  - Florida Whistleblower Act (FWA), Fla. Stat. § 448.101 et seq.
- The complaint demanded punitive damages under both statutes, damages for injury to reputation under SOX, and a jury trial on the SOX claim.
- Defendants moved to strike (1) punitive damages under SOX and FWA, (2) reputational damages under SOX, and (3) the SOX jury demand.
- Hanna conceded punitive damages were unavailable under SOX.

## Issues

1. Whether punitive damages are available under SOX’s whistleblower provision, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A.
2. Whether punitive damages are available under the Florida Whistleblower Act.
3. Whether SOX permits damages for injury to reputation as part of “all relief necessary to make the employee whole.”
4. Whether a SOX § 1514A plaintiff in federal court is entitled to a jury trial.

## Decision

- Granted the motion to strike punitive damages under SOX (conceded as unavailable).
- Granted the motion to strike punitive damages under the FWA, holding the statute does not authorize punitive damages.
- Denied the motion to strike reputational damages under SOX, holding such damages fall within SOX’s “make-whole” remedial scheme and “special damages.”
- Denied without prejudice the motion to strike the jury demand on the SOX claim, reserving the ability to revisit the issue closer to trial.

## Legal Principles

- Where a statute limits recovery to “compensatory damages” and does not authorize punitive damages, punitive damages are unavailable.
- SOX’s authorization of “all relief necessary to make the employee whole,” including “special damages,” can include non-pecuniary harms such as injury to reputation.
- When a statute is silent on jury trial and controlling appellate precedent is absent, a court may decline to strike a jury demand at the pleading stage and defer a final Seventh Amendment determination until the nature of the remedies and claims is clearer.

## Conclusion

The court narrowed the requested remedies by striking punitive damages under both SOX and the Florida Whistleblower Act, allowed reputational damages to proceed under SOX’s make-whole relief, and kept the SOX jury demand in place without prejudice to later reconsideration.


Hanna v. WCI Communities, Inc., 348 F. Supp. 2d 1332 (S.D. Fla. 2004)