Accountant John Doe challenges PCAOB disciplinary proceeding before Supreme Court

John Doe, an accountant, filed a challenge against a disciplinary proceeding by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) before the Supreme Court. The New Civil Liberties Alliance petitioned the Supreme Court to decide whether the strict confidentiality required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 allows Doe to remain anonymous in his case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit previously denied Doe's request to litigate pseudonymously, stating that Sarbanes-Oxley's confidentiality mandate does not protect the names of Board-accused accountants.

The case challenges the constitutionality of the PCAOB's proceeding, with Doe alleging defects including the Board’s private funding mechanism and the deprivation of his due process and jury-trial rights. The D.C. Circuit's holding conflicts with decisions from the First Circuit regarding comparable statutory confidentiality provisions.