The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has ruled that employees of a public mutual fund’s service providers are not entitled to Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower protection.  The plaintiffs had claimed retaliation for raising issues concerning a mutual fund for whom their employers provided advisory and other services.  The court concluded that Sarbanes-Oxley only protected employees of the public company (i.e. the fund) and not employees of private companies that provide services to the public company.  The Court relied on statutory language and legislative history and disregarded SEC and OSHA interpretations.