Third Circuit Confirms Limits On Scope Of Protected Activity Under SOX

On July 16, 2020, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a former IT analyst's whistleblower retaliation claim, holding that he lacked an objectively reasonable belief that his complaints implicated one of the enumerated forms of fraud in the SOX whistleblower provision. Reilly v. GlaxoSmithKline, LLC, No. 19-cv-2897.

Background

Plaintiff was an IT analyst for the Company, where his duties included maintaining the Company's AS/400 computer servers and addressing performance and security issues related to them. Beginning in 2011, Plaintiff allegedly began complaining to his supervisor about performance issues caused by the decision to "uncap" the servers' processors, which allowed them to share capacity. In 2013, he allegedly voiced an additional concern that the servers' access management plan provided certain users with more authority than they should be allowed. Plaintiff was placed in charge of remediating both of the foregoing issues. Plaintiff