Former IP Infusion Executives Sue Company, Japanese Parent ACCESS, and Former CEO for Whistleblower Retaliation for Reporting Fraud

Executives reporting fraud were fired and then publicly smeared as the wrongdoers

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Two former executives represented by Katz Banks Kumin LLP filed suit today against networking software company IP Infusion, Inc., its Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed parent company ACCESS Co., Ltd., (4813.T), and former chief executive Kiyoyasu Oishi.

Kelly LeBlanc, IP Infusion's former Chief Operating Officer, and Susan Solat, its former Chief Human Resources Officer, allege that they were fired from IP Infusion in retaliation for resisting and reporting Oishi’s attempts to engage in fraud in the fall of 2025 and for raising concerns about the Company’s refusal to terminate two other executives who were found to have engaged in financial improprieties.“

Kelly LeBlanc and Susan Solat did exactly what they were supposed to do. They believed they saw fraud; they reported it through every internal channel available to them, and they refused to acquiesce to Oishi’s pressures to engage in wrongdoing,” said Saba Bireda, partner at Katz Banks Kumin LLP. “In response to their efforts to prevent and report unlawful conduct, they were fired in a humiliating fashion that has resulted in extraordinary reputational harm. This is obvious discrimination and retaliation and a clear violation of California law.”

Both LeBlanc and Solat allege in their complaint that after auditors flagged concerns about IP Infusion’s financials in 2024, ACCESS investigated and published a report of its findings, in Japanese only, in June 2025. LeBlanc and Solat allege that the report uncovered years of accounting irregularities at IP Infusion, including premature revenue recognition, fabricated shipments of nonexistent product, and undisclosed side agreements withheld from auditors, all perpetuated by several of the company’s senior executives. Despite these findings, LeBlanc and Solat allege, the implicated executives continued to pull large salaries and maintain influence over the business.

Following publication of the report, ACCESS's Board, of which Oishi was chairman, appointed Oishi as IP Infusion CEO in addition to his existing role as ACCESS CEO. ACCESS simultaneously informed shareholders and regulators that those responsible for the financial improprieties were being removed from any influence over the business. LeBlanc and Solat allege that this claim was false, as the executives implicated remained on payroll and involved in the business, and Oishi, who LeBlanc and Solat allege was the “ringleader” of the conduct uncovered in the report, was now at the helm of both IP Infusion and ACCESS.

In August 2025, the Tokyo Stock Exchange notified ACCESS that its shares would be designated as a “Security on Special Alert” and that the company would be subject to a listing-agreement penalty—among the most significant sanctions available short of immediate delisting, and a status shared by only a handful of listed companies.

LeBlanc and Solat allege that in early September 2025, they submitted a written complaint about what they believed to be ongoing fraudulent conduct at IP Infusion and ACCESS. In November 2025, ACCESS’s outside counsel launched an investigation into some of the issues raised. LeBlanc and Solat allege that one outside attorney cautioned an IP Infusion employee that Oishi viewed the situation as a “loyalty game,” and warned that there were “spies” at IP Infusion. In light of this, LeBlanc and Solat declined to proceed with virtual interviews for that investigation. Just days later, on November 20, 2025, Oishi himself terminated both women and marched them out of their offices and the building, in full view of their colleagues.

Neither woman received severance, notice, a final paycheck, or exit paperwork at that time. LeBlanc and Solat allege that even those executives implicated in the company's financial improprieties received severance and a graceful exit. They note in the complaint that a male executive raised many of the same concerns as they did, but was neither forced into the sham investigation nor terminated as they were.

According to the complaint, just two months after LeBlanc and Solat’s terminations, ACCESS published a statement falsely implying that the two women were among those responsible for the very financial improprieties they had attempted to prevent and report.

On August 27, 2026, ACCESS submitted its compliance report to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Exchange is now in the process of determining whether to remove the Special Alert status, to delist ACCESS, or to take some other action. Just hours before submitting that compliance report, ACCESS announced that Oishi is no longer CEO or on the Board of IP Infusion or ACCESS and instead serves only as an advisor. LeBlanc and Solat allege that this move affirms the validity of their complaints.

LeBlanc and Solat allege violations of California’s Whistleblower Protection Law and sex discrimination in violation of the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, along with other related causes of action. The women also intend to defend themselves vigorously against IP Infusion’s baseless allegations that they engaged in wrongdoing or acted in bad faith in blowing the whistle on Oishi and others in management. They allege IP Infusion’s false narrative is further evidence of retaliation.

LeBlanc and Solat are represented by Saba Bireda, Sarah E. Nesbitt, and Catherine Seita of Katz Banks Kumin LLP.

The case is LeBlanc and Solat v. IP Infusion, Inc., et al., (Cal. Super. Ct., Santa Clara Cnty.).

About Katz Banks Kumin LLPThe attorneys of Katz Banks Kumin LLP are nationally recognized leaders in whistleblower, civil rights, and employment law. The firm handles cases nationwide with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia. https://katzbanks.com

Attachment

• LeBlanc and Solat v. IP Infusion, Inc., et al., (Cal. Super. Ct., Santa Clara Cnty.)

Alex Bradley
Katz Banks Kumin LLP
202.552.5361
bradley@katzbanks.com