Court Dismisses Most Claims in Whistleblower Retaliation Lawsuit Against Light & Wonder

The Core Allegations

Antonio Amormino, who served as the company’s head of its North American casino studio, filed the lawsuit claiming he was fired in retaliation for refusing to falsify financial documents. He alleged that in July 2024, a vice president of operations pressured him to alter these documents, an act he believed would violate the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

According to his complaint, after refusing to comply, Amormino raised his concerns with company officials and subsequently filed a complaint with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). He was terminated on the same day he filed the OSHA complaint, which he argued was a direct violation of Michigan’s whistleblower protection laws.

The Court’s Key Findings

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Jonathan Grey of the Eastern District of Michigan dismissed most of Amormino’s claims, citing several key deficiencies in the case.

Lack of a Causal Link. The court found that Amormino failed to present any evidence that Light & Wonder was aware of his OSHA complaint at the time of his termination. While the timing was close—he was placed on administrative leave the same day he filed the complaint and fired four days later—the judge ruled that temporal proximity alone was not enough to establish the required causal link.

Federal Law Preemption. The judge dismissed Amormino’s public policy claim with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. The court ruled that this claim was preempted by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act itself, which has its own specific anti-retaliation provisions. The judge noted that Sarbanes-Oxley provides adequate remedies for employees, including the ability to sue in federal court if regulators do not act on a complaint.

Claims Against Parent Companies Dismissed. The court also threw out the claims against Light & Wonder’s parent entities. The judge found that Amormino had not provided enough facts to show that these companies were “joint employers” with sufficient control over his employment to be held liable.

An Opportunity to Amend

While the ruling was a major setback for the plaintiff, the door has not been completely closed. The judge dismissed the primary whistleblower claim “without prejudice,” giving Amormino a 21-day window to file an amended complaint with new evidence. If he fails to do so, the entire case will be dismissed.

The lawsuit comes at a busy time for Light & Wonder. The company is currently involved in other legal disputes with competitors and has announced plans to delist from the Nasdaq and trade exclusively on the Australian Stock Exchange. The outcome of this whistleblower case, should it proceed, will be another key factor in the company’s evolving legal and corporate landscape.