Rite Aid Beats Former Employee’s Insider Trading Allegation

Rite Aid prevailed in a case against a former employee who alleged the company’s executives engaged in insider trading during negotiations with Walgreens, under an order from a federal district court in Pennsylvania.

James Wickens alleged Rite Aid Headquarters Corp. fired him to retaliate for his bringing up insider trading concerns. But Rite Aid showed “clear and convincing evidence” that it fired Wickens regardless of those concerns and that his termination was part of broader layoffs, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said Monday.

In 2017, Wickens learned vice presidents at Rite Aid sold their ...