United States Fourth Circuit

In a suit alleging wrongful discharge in violation of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff failed to produce evidence that he provided information or made a complaint to defendant about conduct which a reasonable employee in his position could have believed at the time constituted a violation of the securities laws; and 2) plaintiff's common law claim for wrongful discharge was unsupported in the record.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/24/2008
• Published 03/24/2008

Judges

• Before NIEMEYER and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and CLAUDE M. HILTON, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Thad M. Guyer, T.M. Guyer & Ayers & Friends, P.C., Medford, Oregon, for Appellant.  Michael Delikat, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, L.L.P., New York, New York, for Appellees.   ON BRIEF:  Joanne Royce, Government Accountability Project, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.   James H. McQuade, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, L.L.P., New York, New York;  Terry A. Clark, Constangy, Brooks & Smith, L.L.C., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellees.  Virginia W. Hoptman, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, Tysons Corner, Virginia;  Charles A. Edwards, Sheri Roberson, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, Raleigh, North Carolina;  Robin S. Conrad, Shane Brennan, National Chamber Litigation Center, Inc., Washington, D.C., for Amicus Supporting Appellees.