Harwood Feffer

1. Counsel Inadequate In Revlon Shareholder Suit: Judge

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010

Criticizing the plaintiffs' original counsel for failing to take a more active role in the litigation, a Delaware judge on Tuesday appointed new lead counsel for a putative class of Revlon Inc. shareholders in a lawsuit over a takeover by the company's controlling shareholder.

2. CBS Board Tries To Nix Derivative Suits

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010

Executive board members at CBS Corp. have filed a motion to dismiss two consolidated shareholder derivative suits that allege the board artificially inflated CBS' stock price to further the financial interests of Sumner M. Redstone, the company's chairman and majority shareholder.

3. Time Warner Cable Box Antitrust Suit Tossed

Monday, Mar 08, 2010

A consolidated multidistrict action accusing Time Warner Cable Inc. of violating the Sherman Act by illegally tying its premium cable services to the sale of set-top box rentals has been dismissed.

4. Moody's Shareholder Suit Sent Back To NY State Court

Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010

A federal judge has remanded a shareholder derivative suit against Moody's Corp. and several of its directors over their structured finance credit ratings back to New York state court at the plaintiffs' request, saying there was no basis for the suit's removal in the first place.

5. FedEx Guns For Jury Trials In Driver Status Suits

Thursday, Jan 07, 2010

FedEx Ground Package System Inc. is pushing for jury trials in all 63 cases in the multidistrict litigation over its practice of classifying drivers as independent contractors, a day after the logistics giant failed, again, to gain access to its drivers' tax returns.

6. 2nd Circ. Turns To Mass. High Court In Derivative Suit

Monday, Jan 04, 2010

In a shareholder suit brought against investment fund Citifunds Trust III, a federal appeals court has asked Massachusetts' highest court to determine the scope of a state statute protecting companies from potentially harmful derivative actions.

7. FedEx Protests Doc Production In Classification MDL

Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009

FedEx Ground Package System Inc. is seeking reconsideration of an order compelling it to produce Internal Revenue Service documents to plaintiffs in a multidistrict litigation accusing the delivery company of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors.

8. Home Depot Wants ERISA Class Action Tossed

Wednesday, Dec 09, 2009

Home Depot Inc. has asked a federal court to toss a putative class action lodged by employees who alleged the home improvement retailer violated its fiduciary duty by allowing its retirement plan to invest in company stock while corporate officials were backdating stock options.

9. FedEx Drivers Win Bid To Collect IRS Audit Info

Tuesday, Dec 08, 2009

The plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation accusing FedEx Ground Package System Inc. of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors have won their renewed bid to compel both an Internal Revenue Service document and a FedEx executive's deposition related to the IRS' audit of the company's driver model.

10. Boston Scientific Settles ERISA Suit For $8M

Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009

Boston Scientific Corp. has agreed to pay $8.2 million to settle an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit alleging that the company breached its fiduciary duty by allowing employees to invest their retirement plan in shares of Boston Scientific at a time when safety concerns about the company's stents were driving down its stock price.

11. 3Com Hit With Shareholder Suit Over $2.7B HP Deal

Friday, Nov 13, 2009

Networking and security services provider 3Com Corp. has been hit with a shareholder class action seeking to block the $2.7 billion merger agreement with Hewlett-Packard Co. announced Wednesday.

12. ESOP Required Investment In Fannie Mae: Plan Leaders

Tuesday, Nov 03, 2009

Fannie Mae benefit plan committee members have asked a federal judge to dismiss a consolidated proposed class action alleging they violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by investing in Fannie Mae stock, saying the plan did not give them discretion to alter investments.

13. FedEx Plaintiffs Urge Court To Amend Class Cert. Order

Monday, Nov 02, 2009

Plaintiffs from Vermont, Connecticut and Colorado have asked the court overseeing multidistrict litigation accusing FedEx Ground Package System Inc. of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors to amend an order rejecting certification and certify classes under each state's respective laws.

14. Allou Investors Lose Bid For Cert. In KPMG Suit

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009

Deeming two proposed lead plaintiffs ill-suited for the task, a federal judge has rejected a request for class status for former shareholders of Allou Healthcare Inc. in a suit accusing auditors KPMG LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP of failing to unearth accounting fraud at the defunct pharmacy products provider.

15. Judge Throws Out Humana ERISA Case

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009

A judge has dismissed a proposed class action against Humana Inc. that alleged the company and its leaders violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by encouraging employees to invest their pensions in the health insurance plan provider's stock while misleading them about the stock's true value.

16. Wachovia, Execs Hit With ERISA Class Action

Monday, Sep 21, 2009

Several participants of Wachovia Bank NA's two retirement savings programs have filed a putative class action accusing the bank and 30 executives of breaching their fiduciary duty by imprudently investing the plans' assets in Wachovia common stock despite the company's deteriorating financial situation.

17. CORRECTED: La. FedEx MDL Plaintiffs Add Subclass

Friday, Aug 14, 2009

Plaintiffs in Louisiana have added a subclass of FedEx Ground Package System Inc. delivery drivers who can seek relief under the state's employment law, complying with an order from the federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation accusing FedEx of misclassifying its drivers.

18. Class List Expanded In FedEx Drivers MDL

Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009

The multidistrict litigation accusing FedEx Ground Package System Inc. of misclassifying its drivers as independent contractors and failing to provide them with certain benefits is inching forward, with a federal judge giving the stamp of approval to class certification in a number of new states.

19. Class Leads Picked For BofA-Merrill Buyout Battle

Thursday, Jul 02, 2009

A federal judge has divided 30 pending cases accusing Bank of America Corp. of misleading investors into signing off on its $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. into three major groups — securities, derivatives and 401(k) plan claimants — and picked interim leads for the putative classes.

20. Judge In KV Securities Case To Oversee ERISA Suits

Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009

A federal judge has decided she should preside over proposed class actions alleging that KV Pharmaceutical Co. violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act through its handling of an employee investment plan in addition to a proposed class action alleging KV violated securities laws, due to similarities in the material facts of the cases.