Class Action

PSLRA Class Action Defense Cases–Ley v. Visteon: Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Class Action Against Company, Individuals And Outside Auditor Holding Class Action Complaint Failed To Meet PSLRA’s Heightened Pleading Requirements

By Michael J. Hassen

Securities Fraud Class Action Properly Dismissed by District Court because Class Action Complaint Failed to Adequately Allege Failure to Disclose and because Class Action Complaint Failed to Create Strong Inference of Scienter Sixth Circuit Holds

Plaintiffs filed a class action against Visteon Corporation and certain officers and directors of Visteon, and against its outside auditor, Pricewaterhousecooper, alleging violations of federal securities law; specifically, the class action complaint asserted claims for violations of § 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, and § 20(a) of the Exchange Act. Ley v. Visteon Corp., 543 F.3d 801, 804-05 (6th Cir. 2008). The class action complaint followed the disclosure by Visteon of “$108 million in accounting errors which understated net losses by in excess of $60 million,” id., at 805. According to the class action, this disclosure “shocked the market” and caused Visteon’s stock to drop dramatically. Id., at 804-05. Defense attorneys moved to dismiss the class action complaint, id., at 804. Defense attorneys moved to dismiss the class action’s § 11 claim as barred by the statute of limitations, id., at 806. The defense motion as to the remaining class action claims focused on the failure of the class action complaint to meet the heightened pleading requirements of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). The district court granted the motion and dismissed the class action complaint in its entirety, id., at 805. Plaintiffs appealed but did not challenge the dismissal of the class action’s § 11 claim, id., at 806; accordingly, the Sixth Circuit affirmed that portion of the district court’s order without discussion and focused its analysis only on the remaining claims. The Sixth Circuit affirmed.

After discussing briefly the rules governing its review of the dismissal of the class action complaint, see Ley, at 805-06, the Sixth Circuit summarized the law governing securities fraud claims and the heightened pleading requirements necessitated by the PSLRA, see id., at 806-07. The § 10(b)/Rule 10b-5 class action claim against Visteon alleged that it failed to disclose certain information; specifically, Visteon, a spin-off of Ford Motor, “failed to disclose that ‘Ford so dominated the day to day business affairs of Visteon via the contracts between the two and beholden Visteon management, such that Visteon was essentially no more than a repository for operations of Ford that had built in losses.’” Id., at 807. In the words of the Circuit Court, “Essentially, Plaintiffs argue that Defendants failed to adequately disclose that Visteon may have difficulty shedding unprofitable business lines.” Id. The Sixth Circuit disagreed finding the company’s disclosure to be “rife with such information.” Id. And the Circuit Court similarly rejected plaintiffs’ other claims regarding Visteon’s failure to disclose material information, see id., at 807-08. In fact, the Court found that defendants made numerous disclosures and that Visteon was under no duty to disclose information relative to its competitors, id., at 808. As the Sixth Circuit explained at page 808:

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on November 26, 2008 (boomark / email).