120 results for 'cat:"Securities" AND cat:"Class Action"'.
J. Breyer allows class claims to proceed against Elon Musk from former owners of Twitter stock who say Musk tried to drive down Twitter's stock prices in order to get a cheaper acquisition price for himself. The claims may continue based on tweets that Musk made in May of 2022 that claimed his acquisition deal was on hold pending new details on alleged spam Twitter accounts, which he said made up roughly 20% of Twitter's users. These statements were false and made with "deliberate recklessness," causing Twitter stock prices to fall nearly 7%.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Breyer, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv5937, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, class Action
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed class securities fraud claims contending the Boston Beer company made misleading statements about the potential for future sales of a hard seltzer product line, which plateaued after precautions for the Covid-19 pandemic loosened, because the optimistic statements either constituted inactionable opinions or were "literally true without being otherwise misleading." Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 22, 2023, Case #: 23-8, Categories: Fraud, securities, class Action
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J. Livingston finds that the district court properly remanded class fiduciary duty and tortious interference claims shareholders brought against a company and its merger partner. An exception to the Class Action Fairness Act applied since the merger involved securities that allegedly shortchanged shareholders from owning preferred stock.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Livingston, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 23-1262, Categories: securities, Fiduciary Duty, class Action
J. Wright grants final approval to a class action settlement in an action alleging securities law violations by a smart-home tech company. The relief provided by the settlement, which provides that the company spend $300,000 yearly for the next five years to improve its risk management practices and implement other terms designed to protect its shareholders, is adequate. Attorney fees of $1,600,000 and service awards of $15,000 to named plaintiffs are also appropriate.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1965, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, Attorney Fees, class Action
J. Rakoff certifies a class of investors who held Class A shares in the defendant corporation who claim they are entitled to a pro rata distribution of a termination fee the company received from another company with which a planned merger failed. The investors had no duty to mitigate their damages because they do not seek any additional damages, only the distribution of a fee paid to the company. The firm Morris Kandinov LLP is appointed as class counsel.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Rakoff, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv10986, NOS: Stockholders’ Suits - Contract, Categories: securities, class Action
J. Wright grants final approval to a class-action settlement in securities litigation, the exact nature of which remains under seal, but which involved allegations that a company misrepresented facts about its products and supply chains to investors. The settlement provides adequate relief for all class members in the form of reforms to the company's corporate governance and risk management, and the attorney fees awarded are appropriate.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1965, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, class Action
J. McKeown finds that the district court properly dismissed challenged statements regarding the risk of security breaches and the risk of the public not perceiving Facebook’s products to be “useful, reliable, and trustworthy” in a class action third amended complaint concerning the purchase of Facebook common stock in 2017 and 2018. The class alleges a violation of the Securities Exchange Act concerning an incident in March of 2018 when news broke that Cambridge Analytica improperly harvested personal data from millions of unwitting Facebook users and retained copies of the data beyond Facebook’s control. Facebook also allowed "whitelisted third-party apps" to access users’ Facebook friend data without the users’ friends’ consent. The public later learned that Facebook had known of Cambridge Analytica’s misconduct for over two years and failed to inform affected users. Cambridge Analytica and whitelisting revelations, and not any other factor, caused a July 2018 stock drop. The panel reversed the lower court’s dismissal of claims as to Facebook’s statements regarding data control that predated the whitelisting revelation. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McKeown, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 22-15077, Categories: securities, Privacy, class Action
J. Thomas dismisses a putative securities fraud class action for lack of jurisdiction due to appellant’s lack of standing. An individual filed the action under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and the district court appointed Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERSM) as lead plaintiff. PERSM filed a first and then second amended complaint, and the district court dismissed for failure to state a claim. PERSM did not appeal.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Thomas , Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 22-15660, Categories: Employment, securities, class Action
J. Gonzalez dismisses a putative securities fraud class action against a lithium-ion battery recycling and recovery company, plus its former officers and directors, alleging it made false and materially misleading statements its IPO documentation, specifically statements regarding the revenue it received from one of its supposed customers, who was later revealed in a report published by a short seller to be a broker that was providing financing. The court finds the complaint fails to specify with adequate granularity which statements the company made in its IPO documentation that were false or misleading. The court grants the litigants permission to file a motion for leave to amend.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Gonzalez, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv2222, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, class Action
J. Walter dismisses the investors' complaint alleging that the real estate investment company authorized false and misleading statements about its real estate assets. The investors claim that the real estate investment company made misleading statements about IRR and distribution projections because it did not disclose the SEC letter, but the SEC letter was available to the public on Jul. 31, 2018, on the SEC's Edgar database before the named investor made his initial funds investment on Sep. 23, 2019.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Walter, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv8499, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities, class Action
[Consolidated.] J. Gonzalez dismisses a putative class action lawsuit alleging securities violations against a bioplastics producer, along with its CEO and CFO, for false or misleading statements related to its Nodax-brand biodegradable plastic products, finding that, while some statements they made were materially misleading, the litigants fail to allege the defendants acted with the knowledge that the statements were false or misleading for purposes of scienter.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Gonzalez, Filed On: September 30, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv2824, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, class Action
J. Henry grants a motion to consolidate two shareholder derivative actions brought against Richard Branson and 16 current or former shareholders, officers or directors of Virgin Galactic for alleged false or misleading statements regarding its oft-delayed commercial space tourism flights. The investors allege the company concealed the extent to which its prototype space vehicles suffered from various technical and design problems throughout their testing phases, which at one point even prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ground the company’s flights until corrections were implemented. As a result, the company repeatedly delayed its plans for commercial flights due to the safety problems, which resulted in heavy investor losses. The court finds the two complaints assert similar claims against primarily the same defendants and would serve the interests of judicial economy.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Henry, Filed On: September 30, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv933, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, class Action
J. Matsumoto dismisses outright a securities fraud complaint brought against an industrial plastics manufacturer on claims that it omitted various statements in a proposed stock incentive plan, which ultimately resulted in a 50% loss in value for common stock holders following the company’s approval of a merger that turned the company private. The court finds that many of the omissions the stockholder alleges were not disclosed are in fact disclosed in the stock incentive plan’s papers or are simply self-evident. As well, the stockholder even admits that the company’s financial losses were in large part due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Matsumoto, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv6028, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, Covid-19, class Action
J. Marbley grants the capital investment firm's motion to dismiss, ruling that while it was the main financer of the startup loan company, there is no evidence it counseled executives on what financial disclosures to make before the startup's stock price plummeted; therefore, it cannot be held liable for any securities violations. Meanwhile, statements made by the startup company about the efficacy and advantages given by its proprietary AI model are objectively verifiable through metrics put forth by the class of investors in its complaint; therefore, the securities claims related to those misstatements will not be dismissed.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Marbley, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv2935, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities, class Action
J. Amon dismisses a class action securities fraud complaint brought on behalf of stockholders of an industrial materials company alleging omissions made during merger negotiations that exaggerated the commercialization prosects of its holography, lithography and wireless sensing products as well as the company’s relationship with Lockheed Martin and Airbus to develop holographic optical filter eyewear products for use by commercial, military and law enforcement pilots. The court finds the statements are not actionable under federal securities laws and the complaint fails to allege scienter.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Amon, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv7203, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, class Action
J. Gilman finds that district court properly dismissed a securities case against a pest control company. While several statements made by the company about its liability for a termite outbreak in several states may have misled investors to a certain extent, the class of investors failed to prove the level of scienter required for its securities claims, especially considering the company released statements about financial issues after arbitration awards against it. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Gilman, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 22-5981, Categories: Fraud, securities, class Action
J. Jolson grants the corporation's motion to change venue in a securities class action brought by the retirement fund from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The retirement fund claims that the corporation disseminated or recklessly disregarded false and misleading statements about its positions on railway safety. The corporation's headquarters are in Atlanta and two of the executives live and work in Atlanta. The flow of information from the corporation and executives to the shareholders stems from Atlanta.
Court: USDC Northern District of Georgia, Judge: Jolson, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv4175, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, Venue, class Action
J. Schofield grants the company's motion to dismiss a securities class action over its failure to immediately inform investors of subsidiary Ben & Jerry's decision to stop selling its ice cream in Israel in light of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The B&J board's decision was contrary to the wishes of its corporate owner, which delayed implementation of the decision, and instead sold the B&J Israeli business to the company's former Israeli licensee over the protests of the B&J board. The company did not defraud investors by not immediately informing them of the board's decision because it did not know how it would be implemented.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Schofield, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5011, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities, class Action
J. Kugler grants the motion of a group of funds for consolidation and appointment as lead plaintiff in a securities class action, and grants another investor's motion for consolidation while denying his motion for appointment as lead plaintiff. The group of funds has a larger financial interest in the case and are otherwise appropriate as a lead plaintiff. Another fund's motion to withdraw is granted.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Kugler, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv2763, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, class Action
J. Merkl grants preliminary approval to a $6.75 million settlement to resolve a putative class action brought by investors against a mining firm alleging false or misleading statements made regarding the size, scope and duration of a proposed copper and gold mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The EPA subsequently blocked the project under provisions of the Clean Water Act to much fanfare from environmentalists, citing adverse effects to local salmon fisheries and wetlands. On news of the ruling, the company's stock price fell to $0.9 per share, resulting in heavy investor losses.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Merkl, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv5917, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Settlements, securities, class Action