I was wondering if that code is used by the Acron plugin because I can’t see how rejected or published articles can get past the line you indicate.
The three papers in question were completed before upgrading from 2.4.8 to 3.1.0-1. However, the reminders should not have been sent after the upgrade because the status field of the submissions table is set correctly: 4 for the first two articles and 3 for the third.
Brendan.