Category: Press Releases - Page 6

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press contact: cohenmilstein@berlinrosen.com

WASHINGTON, DC – Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll (Cohen Milstein), one of the leading plaintiffs’ law firms in the United States, announced today that Benjamin D. Brown has been named managing partner.

Brown, who joined Cohen Milstein in 2005, currently co-chairs the firm’s Antitrust practice and serves as chairman of the Executive Committee. Brown replaces Steven J. Toll, who stepped down as managing partner at the end of last year, following a highly successful 26-year run shepherding the firm. Toll, who was named managing partner of the firm in 1997, has cultivated a national profile for Cohen Milstein, increased the attorney headcount from 20 to over 100, and transformed the firm from a legal startup to a legal powerhouse.

“I am beyond honored to serve as Cohen Milstein’s next managing partner and look forward to continuing to secure justice for our clients, build on the firm’s culture, and expand our footprint across the nation,” said Benjamin D. Brown of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. “Our firm is powered by over a hundred attorneys who vigorously represent their clients to create meaningful, lasting change. I am so proud to work with this talented, committed team every day.”

Brown is taking the helm of the firm at a time of tremendous growth. The firm has increased its headcount to more than 150 employees and expanded its footprint to eight offices across the country. In his new role, Brown will continue to expand the firm’s presence in key markets and build on the firm’s reputation as a legal powerhouse.

“Ben has dedicated himself to Cohen Milstein for nearly two decades and demonstrated a love of the law, an unwavering commitment to justice, and a mastery of the skills necessary to successfully lead the firm,” said Steven J. Toll. “Cohen Milstein’s culture of mission-oriented advocacy has cultivated a renowned reputation across the legal industry, spurring interest in the firm from the most qualified talent, and I know Ben will continue to advance our culture and reputation.”

Cohen Milstein’s accomplishments and awards are many. In 2023, the firm secured landmark victories against corporate giants, including a $1 billion securities settlement with Wells Fargo following the fake accounts scandal and a victorious settlement with Exxon for human rights abuses in Indonesia. In just the last few years, the firm has been ranked a leading firm by Chambers USA in Antitrust, ERISA Litigation, Product Liability & Mass Torts, and Securities Litigation, while Law360 has named Cohen Milstein Practice Group of the Year in Benefits, Competition, Class Actions, Consumer Protection, Employment, and Securities. The firm has also been recognized repeatedly as a “ceiling smasher” for being among the firms with the highest representation of women in their equity partnerships. As managing partner, Brown will oversee a team working to deliver corporate reforms and fair markets for the common good.

Brown, who previously served in the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice, has been appointed by federal courts to serve as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in numerous important matters, such as In re Plasma-Derivative Protein Therapies Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Ill.); Carlin, et al. v. DairyAmerica, Inc. (E.D. Cal.); and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Antitrust Litigation (D. Nev.). Brown is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School, where he teaches Complex Litigation, a course that explores the policy and procedures implicated by aggregated, high stakes, multi-party litigation, especially class actions.

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About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll

For Immediate Release

Judge also grants plaintiffs’ request to unseal discovery materials

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Honorable Elihu M. Berle of the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles granted in part plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in Rasmussen, et al. v. The Walt Disney Company, et al., a gender pay discrimination class action against The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries. The certified class of plaintiffs includes most women who have been or will be employed by Disney, in California, between April 1, 2015 and three months before trial, below the level of Vice President, and in a non-union position with assigned job families and job levels.

Originally filed in 2019 by Andrus Anderson, a California-based consumer and employee rights litigation firm, Cohen Milstein, a national plaintiffs class action law firm, joined the case in 2022, and plaintiffs filed the now-public motion for class certification in June 2023, claiming that Disney deprived the class as a whole of millions in wages in violation of the Fair Employment & Housing Act because its compensation practice caused a disparate impact on women, and in violation of California’s Equal Pay Act because it paid women less than men for substantially similar jobs.

In his ruling, Judge Berle granted class certification as it applies to California’s Equal Pay Act, which does not require plaintiffs to identify the cause of the pay disparities. He also granted plaintiffs’ requests to unseal materials submitted to the Court in connection with class certification, including numerous documents produced in discovery and unredacted expert reports.

Plaintiffs claim, among other things, that Disney employed an enterprise-wide compensation policy, whereby it started out new, female hires at lower salaries than their male counterparts for similar jobs in part because Disney would base starting pay on prior salary, which historically includes gender-based disparities. These figures are substantiated by a now-public economic expert report, filed with the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification.

“I am very pleased with the court’s decision to allow this equal pay case to move forward as a class action so we can expose the entrenched pay disparities,” said Christine Webber, co-chair of Cohen Milstein’s Civil Rights & Employment practice. “We look forward to proving that Disney has been systematically underpaying its hard-working female employees. As a class action, we’re in a better position to address these systemic issues and, make an impact for the good of Disney’s employees.”

“It’s encouraging that the court has agreed with our clients that this case should be brought as a class action,” said Lori Andrus, founding partner of Andrus Anderson. “It took a lot of courage for our clients to bring this case against one of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates in the first place. So, I’m hopeful that as a class action not only will our clients have their day in court, but also, they will be able to effect a positive change at Disney and end these allegedly discriminatory compensation policies.”

The Walt Disney Company is the world’s largest media company, which includes amusement parks and resorts, media networks, studio entertainment, and consumer products and interactive media.

Plaintiffs, who include long-time employees, claim that, across all its business segments and at all levels of the company, Disney routinely underpays its female employees. Simply put, the plaintiffs allege that Disney values its male employees more than its female employees.

Plaintiffs seek legal and equitable relief under the California Equal Pay Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and California Business & Professions Code §17200, the California Private Attorneys General Act, and various California Labor Codes.

The case name: Rasmussen, et al. v. The Walt Disney Company, et al., Case. No. 19STCV10974, Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles. Read more about the case.

Plaintiffs in this case are also represented by Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian, & Ho.

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About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, a premier U.S. plaintiffs’ law firm, with over 100 attorneys across eight offices, champions the causes of real people—workers, consumers, small business owners, investors, and whistleblowers—working to deliver corporate reforms and fair markets for the common good. We have litigated landmark civil rights and employment disputes before the highest courts in the nation and continue to actively shape civil rights and employment law in the United States. For more information visit https://www.cohenmilstein.com/

About Andrus Anderson

Andrus Anderson is dedicated to making the concepts of truth, justice and accountability a reality for each and every client. A national leader in litigation for equal pay, Andrus Anderson is a law firm that will stand up to corporate giants and fight tirelessly to see individual rights prevail over corporate and governmental misconduct, greed and abuse. For more information visit https://andrusanderson.com/

LEGAL NOTICE

ATTENTION PURCHASERS OF BAYER AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT (“BAYER”) AMERICAN DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS BETWEEN MAY 23, 2016 AND JULY 6, 2020

SUMMARY NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION

TO: ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES THAT PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED BAYER AMERICAN DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS FROM MAY 23, 2016 TO JULY 6, 2020, INCLUSIVE (THE “CLASS”).

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT A CLASS HAS BEEN CERTIFIED IN PENDING LITIGATION THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS.

If you are a member of the Class described above, your rights may be affected by the lawsuit referred to as Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund, et al. v. Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, et al., No. 3:20-cv-04737-RS, which is now pending before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (the “Court”), brought by Lead Plaintiffs Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund (“Sheet Metal Workers”) and International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local No. 710 Pension Fund (“Teamsters 710”), along with additional named plaintiff International Union of Operating Engineers Pension Fund of Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware (collectively with Sheet Metal Workers and Teamsters 710, “Plaintiffs”), against Bayer Aktiengesellschaft and Individual Defendants Werner Baumann, Werner Wenning, Liam Condon, Johannes Dietsch, and Wolfgang Nickl (collectively, “Defendants”).

The Court determined that the Action may proceed as a class action pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. You may be a member of the Class. Excluded from the Class are Defendants, directors and officers of Bayer, and their families and affiliates. Additionally, any person or entity that timely and validly requests exclusion, as explained in this Notice, will be excluded from the Class.

This Notice is not an expression of any opinion by the Court with respect to the merits of the claims or the defenses asserted in the Action. At this time, there is no judgment, settlement, or monetary recovery. This Notice is merely to advise you of the pendency of this Action and of your rights therein.

If you have not yet received the “Notice of Pendency of Class Action” which describes the Class Action and your related rights in detail, you may obtain a copy by writing to:

Bayer ADR Securities Litigation
c/o A.B. Data, Ltd.
P.O. Box 173084
Milwaukee, WI 53217
1 (800) 524-0614

You may also view the full “Notice of Pendency of Class Action” at www.BayerADRSecuritiesLitigation.com.

If you fall within the definition of the Class set forth above, you are a member of the Class. IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN A MEMBER OF THE CLASS, YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING AT THIS TIME.

If you wish to be excluded from the Class, you must send a request for exclusion to Bayer ADR Securities Litigation, EXCLUSIONS, P.O. Box 173001, Milwaukee, WI 53217, postmarked no later than January 29, 2024. There are specific requirements for requesting exclusion that are set forth in the detailed Notice of Pendency of Class Action.

In addition, inquiries regarding this litigation may be addressed to:

LEAD COUNSEL: COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL PLLC

Carol V. Gilden
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
190 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1705
Chicago, IL 60603
Telephone: (312) 629-3737
Fax: (312) 357-0369

Chris Lometti
Benjamin F. Jackson
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
88 Pine Street, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10005
Telephone: (212) 838-7797
Fax: (212) 838-7745

PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE COURT, THE DISTRICT CLERK’S OFFICE, OR DEFENDANTS REGARDING THIS NOTICE.

Dated: November 28, 2023 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact: cohenmilstein@berlinrosen.com

Cohen Milstein’s Laura H. Posner Appointed ILEP President

A leading securities litigator and the former top securities regulator for New Jersey, Posner brings rare perspective on investor rights to think tank

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Laura H. Posner, a partner in Cohen Milstein’s Securities Litigation & Investor Protection and Ethics & Fiduciary Counseling practices and the former Bureau Chief for the New Jersey Bureau of Securities, was named president of the Institute for Law and Economic Policy (“ILEP”), one of the country’s leading public policy research and educational foundations on investor access to the civil justice system.

Posner’s appointment was announced at the 2023 ILEP–Penn Carey Law Journal of Business Law Symposium, November 9, 2023.

Over the course of her career, Posner has recovered billions on behalf of defrauded investors. Her notable successes include 6 of the top 100 securities fraud class action settlements of all time, including, most recently, a historic $1 billion settlement in In re Wells Fargo & Company Securities Litigation (S.D.N.Y.) – the 17th largest securities class action settlement ever and the largest ever without a restatement or related actions by the Securities Exchange Commission or U.S. Department of Justice.

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Posner was the Bureau Chief for the New Jersey Bureau of Securities – the top Securities Regulator in New Jersey. Cases prosecuted under her direction resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in recoveries for New Jersey residents, as well as more than 20 criminal convictions.

“I am delighted Laura will be assuming the role of ILEP President. She has brought an important perspective to ILEP, given her unique regulatory and enforcement background and the fact that she’s actively litigating cutting-edge securities cases to address investor harm and hold corporations accountable,” said Marc Gross, ILEP’s outgoing president.

“I am very honored by this appointment. I have tremendous respect for the long history of ILEP and its incredibly talented and impressive roster of law professors whose scholarship is critical to understanding the constantly evolving areas of securities law, regulation, and litigation, as well as to the protection of investors and the markets more generally,” said Laura Posner, ILEP’s newly appointed president and a partner at Cohen Milstein. “ILEP’s importance cannot be understated given the novel innovations in securities products and trading, such as cryptocurrencies and high-frequency trading, and the current state of the global financial markets.”

In addition to ILEP, Posner is a member of the Public Policy Council of the Certified Financial Planner (“CFP”) Board, the immediate past-Chair of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s (NYC Bar) Securities Litigation Committee, and the former Chairwoman of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Enforcement Committee.

About Cohen Milstein

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is a premier U.S. plaintiffs’ law firm, handling high-profile and often precedent-setting litigation. With over 100 attorneys across the country, Cohen Milstein has offices in Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, New York, NY, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC, Boston, MA and Minneapolis, MN. For more information, visit www.cohenmilstein.com or call 202.408.4600.

About the Institute for Law and Economic Policy

The Institute for Law and Economic Policy (“ILEP”) is a public policy research and educational foundation whose mission is to preserve, study, and enhance investor and consumer access to the civil justice system. ILEP organizes symposia, co-sponsored by law schools and attended by academics, jurists, and practitioners. Leading professors and law experts present papers on class actions, securities law, corporate governance, and consumer protection issues. Papers presented at these Symposia have been published in prestigious law reviews and cited by numerous courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court in Amgen, Halliburton and Morrison. For more information, visit www.ilep.org or call (215) 988-9546.

Lawsuit Alleges that 14 of DC’s Largest Landlords Coordinated Through RealPage’s Centralized Price-Setting Algorithm to Artificially Inflate Rent Prices

WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced a lawsuit against RealPage, Inc. (RealPage) and 14 of the largest residential landlords in the District for colluding to illegally raise rents for tens of thousands of DC residents by collectively delegating price-setting authority to RealPage, which used a centralized pricing algorithm to inflate prices, costing renters millions of dollars.

The defendant landlords are some of the largest providers of multifamily housing in the District, and the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) investigation revealed that RealPage’s technology was used to set rents for more than 50,000 apartments across DC, in violation of the District’s Antitrust Act.

“RealPage and the defendant landlords illegally colluded to artificially raise rents by participating in a centralized, anticompetitive scheme, causing District residents to pay millions of dollars above fair market prices,” said AG Schwalb. “Defendants’ coordinated and anticompetitive conduct amounts to a District-wide housing cartel. At a time when affordable housing in DC is increasingly scarce, our office will continue to use the law to fight for fair market conditions and ensure that District residents and law-abiding businesses are protected.”

The 14 landlords named in the lawsuit are:

Avenue5 Residential, LLC
AvalonBay Communities, Inc.
Bell Partners, Inc.
Bozzuto Management Company
Camden Summit Partnership L.P.
Equity Residential Management, LLC
Gables Residential Services, Inc.
GREP Atlantic, LLC
Highmark Residential, LLC
JBG Smith Properties, LP
Mid-America Apartments, LP
Paradigm Management II, LP
UDR, Inc.
William C. Smith & Co., Inc.

Background on RealPage

RealPage offers a variety of technology-based services to real estate owners and property managers including revenue management products that employ statistical models that use data—including non-public, competitively sensitive data—to estimate supply and demand for multifamily housing that is specific to particular geographic areas and unit types, and then generate a “price” to charge for renting those units that maximizes the landlord’s revenue.

In the District, well over 30% of apartments in multifamily buildings (i.e., buildings with five or more units), and approximately 60% of units in large multifamily buildings (with 50+ units), are priced using RealPage’s software.

In the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Area, that number is even higher: over 90% of units in large buildings are priced using RealPage’s software.

This leaves many District residents with no choice but to pay RealPage’s inflated rents.

OAG’s Lawsuit

Specifically, OAG’s lawsuit alleges that:

RealPage and the defendant District landlords colluded to use RealPage’s “Revenue Management” technology, making it market-dominant. RealPage contracts with property managers and owners to provide its software and services. The company’s unparalleled access to proprietary data and significant market share have positioned it as the “Big Tech” company of rental housing.

The defendant landlords illegally coordinated to forgo competition and share sensitive company data and delegate rent-setting authority to RealPage in order to raise rents. RealPage and the defendant landlords transformed a competitive marketplace into one in which competing landlords work together for their collective benefit at the expense of renters. Their anticompetitive agreement is reflected in documents, has been publicly acknowledged by cartel members, and is closely policed by RealPage to ensure compliance. Participating landlords worked to recruit additional landlords into the illegal scheme, providing written and oral testimonials touting the benefits of using RealPage’s technology to inflate rent prices and increase revenues.

The defendants’ illegal agreement to share information and collectively set rents led to artificially inflated rental prices and caused District tenants to pay millions of dollars above market rates. RealPage widely touts the impact of its products, publicly advertising revenue increases of 2-7%. Where RealPage’s market penetration increases, price effects tend to extend beyond just the users of the price-setting software itself, potentially impacting all market participants, illustrating the significant, widespread effects of the adoption of RealPage’s algorithmic pricing.

With this lawsuit, OAG is seeking to:

Stop RealPage and the defendant landlords from engaging in anticompetitive behaviors that artificially inflate rent prices for District tenants.

Appoint a corporate monitor to ensure that RealPage and the defendant landlords do not engage in further anticompetitive misconduct.

Secure financial compensation for the District and residents whose rents were unlawfully raised.

The full complaint is available here.

This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Amanda Hamilton and Section Chief Adam Gitlin of the Antitrust and Nonprofit Enforcement Section.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact: cohenmilstein@berlinrosen.com

American Antitrust Institute and Cohen Milstein Announce Winner of Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship – Best Student Antitrust Article

Inaugural recognition of outstanding law student contributions to antitrust scholarship

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recognition of her outstanding contribution to antitrust scholarship, Eileen Li, J.D. a 2023 graduate of Columbia Law School, has been selected as the winner of the Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award – Best Student Antitrust Article of 2022 – for her article Merger Review 2.0: Infusing CFIUS’s “Critical Technologies” Approach Into Antitrust Oversight Of Nascent Tech Acquisitions, 122 Colum. L. Rev. 1691.

The award will be presented during the American Antitrust Institute’s 17th Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference on Thursday, November 2, 2023, recognizing outstanding achievements in the antitrust community across a variety of contributions and categories at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Li’s article, Merger Review 2.0: Infusing CFIUS’s “Critical Technologies” Approach Into Antitrust Oversight Of Nascent Tech Acquisitions, addresses the subject of nascent tech acquisitions, which have been the subject of renewed regulatory and antitrust scrutiny in recent years. These acquisitions can often be very small—hundreds of tech deals have occurred in the past decade below the current reporting threshold of $101 million—and the current merger review process of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) often fails to capture the harms unique to these early-stage deals.

Li’s article argues that the FTC should look to another government agency—the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—and learn from their experience reviewing very small but sensitive tech deals. CFIUS examines all foreign investment into companies that control technologies that may be sensitive for U.S. national security, focusing over the past few years on Chinese investment into U.S. start-ups as an area of concern. The article examines the resources and renewed mission CFIUS received from Congress through the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA) and argues that the FTC merger process can undergo a similar overhaul. Specifically, the article lays out the arguments for the creation of a CFIUS-style critical technologies pilot program run by the FTC, which would allow the antitrust enforcement agency to orient its mission toward addressing emerging technological markets.

About the Award

The Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award was created through a trust established in memory of Jerry S. Cohen, an outstanding trial lawyer and antitrust scholar. The award is administered by the law firm he founded, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

The award honors the best antitrust writing published during the prior year that is consistent with the values that animated Jerry S. Cohen’s professional life – a genuine concern for economic justice, the dispersal of economic power, effective limitations upon economic power, and the vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws.

About Cohen Milstein

About the American Antitrust Institute

The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) is an independent, nonprofit organization devoted to promoting competition that protects consumers, businesses, and society. AAI serves the public through research, education, and advocacy on the benefits of competition and the use of antitrust enforcement as a vital component of national and international competition policy. For more information, visit www.antitrustinstitute.org or call (202) 828-1226.

Litigation related to Abbott’s manufacture, sale, and recall of contaminated infant formula, leading to nationwide infant formula shortage.

Chicago, IL – Court-appointed Lead Counsel Cohen Milstein and Scott & Scott filed a consolidated complaint in In re Abbott Laboratories Infant Formula Shareholder Derivative Litigation, a massive shareholder derivative lawsuit brought against Abbott Laboratories’ Board of Directors for breaching their fiduciary duties related to the Company’s manufacture and sale of infant formula products, prompting a major recall and nationwide infant formula shortages and allegedly causing billions of dollars of damage to Abbott.

Plaintiffs also allege claims for insider trading, corporate waste, and unjust enrichment, as well as violations of the federal securities laws.

“Abbott’s Board breached its main duty to the Company: to oversee mission-critical risks in connection with the highly regulated manufacturing and sale of infant formula. The result was tragic for our nation’s families, resulting in a nationwide formula shortage and the deaths of multiple infants allegedly due to consuming Abbott’s tainted baby formula, and it has been catastrophic for Abbott’s business, leading to a DOJ consent decree and billions of dollars in damages. Cohen Milstein and Scott & Scott are proud to represent shareholders as lead counsel in this important shareholder derivative lawsuit to hold Abbott’s board of directors accountable,” said Carol V. Gilden, co-lead counsel in the lawsuit and partner at Cohen Milstein.

Abbott, an Illinois corporation, is one of the primary manufacturers of infant formula products in the U.S., previously producing 40% of all infant formula products consumed in the U.S. It is also the nation’s leading provider of infant formula to low-income families through the U.S. government’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (“WIC”) program. On February 15, 2022, Abbott closed its Sturgis, Michigan infant formula manufacturing facility due to the FDA’s concerns about contaminated baby formula. Two days later, on February 17, 2022, Abbott announced a “voluntary” recall of infant formula products manufactured at the Sturgis plant.

The consequences were devastating. A nationwide shortage of baby formula ensued as the facility remained shut down for several months. Additionally, Abbott’s business suffered hundreds of millions in lost sales and profits and costs to remediate the facility and upgrade food safety compliance, risk management systems, and internal controls. The Company’s business and reputation were badly tarnished as it came under regulatory, criminal, and Congressional scrutiny. Abbott is now exposed to numerous lawsuits, including wrongful death, personal injury, and whistleblower actions, as well as consumer and investor class actions.

The consolidated shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed on behalf of court-appointed Lead Plaintiffs, pension funds, Teamsters Local No. 710 Pension Fund and SEPTA.

Read more about the lawsuit.

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About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is a premier U.S. plaintiffs’ law firm, with over 100 attorneys handling high-profile and precedent-setting litigation. Through creative and tenacious advocacy, Cohen Milstein has recovered billions of dollars for defrauded investors. For more information visit www.cohenmilstein.com.

Naval Architects & Marine Engineers File Wage-Suppression Suit Against Nation’s Largest Military Shipbuilders

Defendants allegedly engaged in “no poach” conspiracy in highly skilled, niche industry for decades. Recruiting agency facilitated information exchange and aided the conspiracy.

Washington, DC – A trio of premier plaintiffs’ class action law firms filed an antitrust class action on behalf of naval architects and marine engineers employed by the nation’s largest military shipbuilders and naval engineering consultancy firms, including General Dynamics, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Gibbs & Cox, against those defendants and Faststream Recruitment, a recruiting firm that served the companies and aided in their anticompetitive behavior.

Plaintiffs, who are highly skilled and specialized professionals responsible for the architectural and engineering design of all manner of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels and onboard ship systems, allege that starting in at least 2000, the shipbuilders and consultancy firms adhered to an informal “gentlemen’s agreement” among themselves not to recruit each other’s naval engineers. As a result, the companies effectively suppressed the compensation of naval architects and marine engineers in violation of antitrust law.

“We’re proud to represent the men and women who work to design and build the strongest naval fleet in the world in their fight for fair compensation,” said Robert W. Cobbs, a partner at Cohen Milstein. “For decades, defense contractors have profited from their labor while allegedly suppressing their wages below competitive levels.”

“It’s frustrating to see industry leaders deprive their highly skilled and specialized workers of their due compensation,” said Shana E. Scarlett, a partner at Hagens Berman. “Defendants’ alleged no-poach arrangement not only suppressed wages but caused a persistent shortage of qualified naval engineers in the marketplace.”

“This is a compelling class action. Defendants’ no-poach agreement is a classic per se unlawful restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Act,” said George Farah, a partner at Handley Farah & Anderson. “These highly skilled naval engineers are due hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation.”

Impacted Individuals: Naval engineers consist of naval architects and marine engineers, who design and build the nation’s warships and other “public fleet” vessels. While some naval engineers work directly for the federal government, most are employed by a group of private contractors and consulting firms who are hired by the Navy, the Coast Guard, and other federal and state entities.

Numbering fewer than 10,000 naval engineers nationwide, they frequently work together on the same projects, and are geographically concentrated—primarily in the Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia metro area and the Norfolk/Newport News area.

Join the Case: Impacted individuals can learn more about the class action and whether they qualify to join it by contacting Robert W. Cobbs at Cohen Milstein at: (202) 408-4600, Shana E. Scarlett at Hagens Berman at (510) 725-3000 or George Farah at Handley Farah & Anderson at 212-477-8090.

The name of the case is Scharpf, et al. v. General Dynamics Corp., et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-013272, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

About Cohen Milstein

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is a premier class action law firm, handling high-profile and often precedent-setting cases on behalf of plaintiffs. We have more than 100 attorneys practicing out of eight offices across the United States. In 2022, Cohen Milstein was named Law360’s “Competition Practice Group of the Year.” For additional information, please visit https://www.cohenmilstein.com or call (202) 408-4600.

About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP

Hagens Berman is an international class-action and complex plaintiffs’ litigation law firm taking on the world’s largest corporations and entities and fighting for the rights of plaintiffs, including consumers, whistleblowers, employees, investors and others. For additional information, please visit https://www.hbsslaw.com or call (510) 725-3000.

About Handley Farah & Anderson

We sue giant corporations and other powerful interests that harm people. We pursue cases—both class actions and individual claims—to halt unjust practices, hold wrongdoers accountable and recover financial damages for victims. We fight for those who need our help: workers, consumers, tenants, persons with disabilities, families, farmers, small businesses, investors, whistleblowers, women and communities of color. For additional information, please visit https://www.hfajustice.com or call 212-477-8090.

COHEN MILSTEIN AND SUSMAN GODFREY HELP CAPE FEAR RIVER RESIDENTS WIN CLASS CERTIFICATION IN PFAS TOXIC TORT CLASS ACTION AGAINST CHEMOURS AND DUPONT

More than 770,000 North Carolinians were exposed to toxic “forever chemicals” in their drinking water while Chemours and DuPont misled officials about toxic material disposal

Cape Fear, N.C. – A federal judge granted class certification to over 100,000 North Carolina residents who allege that The Chemours Company (Chemours) and DuPont Chemical (DuPont) illegally discharged toxic wastewater containing PFAS and GenX chemicals, aka “forever chemicals,” from its Fayetteville Works plant into the Cape Fear River, failed to inform residents, failed to inform government officials after learning of its damaging impacts, and continued these harmful practices for decades. The plaintiffs claim that they unknowingly consumed drinking water contaminated with these chemicals, that they now suffer from and face the risk of serious health problems, and that Chemours and DuPont should pay the cost of eliminating the contamination of these PFAS chemicals from their homes.

Since 1980, DuPont and Chemours have discharged massive quantities of toxic PFAS chemicals into the air and water from the 2,000-acre Fayetteville Works plant into the Cape Fear River. Despite internal documents showing it had conducted multiple internal tests that confirmed the toxicity of PFAS and GenX chemicals, DuPont publicly dismissed its own findings, continued dumping, and never disclosed the existence of the toxic waste or the related test results to residents or local utility companies.

“For decades Chemours and Dupont have knowingly endangered the health of hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians and caused widespread property damage,” said Ted Leopold, partner at Cohen Milstein and co-lead counsel in the lawsuit. “We are very happy with Judge Dever’s decision to grant class certification to residents along the Cape Fear River impacted by the gross negligence of these chemical companies.”

“Chemours and Dupont have brought enormous damage to people throughout the communities along Cape Fear River by subjecting them to these dangerous PFAS chemicals without notice or consent,” said Steve Morrissey, a partner at Susman Godfrey, who co-leads the case with Mr. Leopold. “Chemours and DuPont sat on this information for years and have continued to shirk full responsibility for their wrongdoing even after it was exposed. We look forward to trial and pursuing justice for the greater Cape Fear River community.”

The Cape Fear River serves as the main source of water for over 100,000 homes in the southeast area of North Carolina, including the City of Wilmington. The affected counties include New Hanover, Bladen, Brunswick, Cumberland, and Pender, and residents of those counties who are served by utilities that use the Cape Fear River as a water source or rely on groundwater contaminated with PFAS are included in the class.

Chemours admitted publicly to discharging GenX, an allegedly “safer” version of PFAS it developed in 2009, into the North Carolina public water supply in June 2017, after a team of researchers from North Carolina State University detected the chemical downriver from the Fayetteville Works plant. In September 2017, the North Carolina Division of Water Resources sought to suspend Chemours’ National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, citing the company’s years-long misrepresentation and failure to disclose the dumping of PFAS-related chemicals. In 2019, Chemours entered into a consent order with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) relating to its PFAS discharges from Fayetteville Works.

The class action was first brought in 2017 in the Eastern District of North Carolina. In 2018, Cohen Milstein and Susman Godfrey were court appointed Interim Co-Lead Class Counsel. Since filing the case, Cohen Milstein and Susman Godfrey have provided information to DEQ in support of the development and enforcement of the consent order while seeking additional relief through the class action.

See more information about the case.

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About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is a premier U.S. plaintiffs’ law firm, handling high-profile and often precedent-setting litigation, including environmental toxic tort litigation. With over 100 attorneys across the country, Cohen Milstein has offices in Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Minneapolis, MN, New York, NY, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC, Washington, DC. For additional information please visit www.cohenmilstein.com or call (202) 408-4600.

About Susman Godfrey

Susman Godfrey is a nationwide law firm of 150 trial lawyers. It handles high-stakes litigation in a broad range of practice areas and industries, for both plaintiffs and defendants. Susman’s attorneys are creative in finding the fee arrangement—contingent, flat, hourly, or hybrid—that best suits a client’s case. With a relentless focus on winning at trial, Susman Godfrey has been ranked by Vault as the #1 litigation boutique in America for 12 consecutive years. Visit www.susmangodfrey.com to learn more about our unique approach to winning cases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 25, 2023

Contact: cohenmilstein@berlinrosen.com

PHUNWARE FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST UBS SECURITIES FOR MARKET MANIPULATION

NEW YORK, NY – Today, Phunware, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHUN) filed a lawsuit against UBS Securities, LLC, one of the largest and most influential broker-dealers in the world, alleging repeated manipulation of the company’s stock over a two-year period.

Phunware is a publicly traded technology company and pioneer of Multiscreen-as-a-Service, a fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that provides companies the products, solutions, data, and services necessary to engage, manage and monetize their mobile application portfolios and audiences globally at scale.

The company alleges that UBS engaged in a deceptive market manipulation tactic known as spoofing, in which UBS placed huge quantities of sell orders to fool the market into devaluing the company’s stock so that it could then buy the company’s stock at a lower price. UBS then immediately cancelled the sell orders, so it could reap profits at the expense of Phunware and its investors.

“UBS deceptively engaged in stock spoofing, an abuse of our financial system, which had and continues to have lasting negative impacts on Phunware,” said Laura Posner, partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC. “We look forward to holding UBS accountable for the damage it has caused to the company, its shareholders and the markets at large.”

The spoofing episodes against UBS are alleged to have taken place repeatedly over a two-year stretch, sometimes multiple times a day. Phunware alleges that by repeatedly and brazenly manipulating the market through spoofing, UBS artificially and negatively impacted the price of Phunware’s stock in the market, causing Phunware to suffer significant losses when it sold over 34 million shares at manipulated and devalued prices.

Analysts consistently recommended Phunware to investors throughout this two-year period, with all four of the firms following PHUN assigning it “Buy” ratings at price targets that were typically over $2 and reached as high as $6 – levels considerably higher than the actual prices at which PHUN traded. This discrepancy persists to this day, with analysts’ current price targets exceeding PHUN’s share price by over 300%.

In the complaint, Phunware demonstrates through de-anonymized Nasdaq market information that UBS placed over 82 million Baiting Orders and purchased over 640,000 shares in over 1,000 executed orders at manipulated prices in the two-year period. UBS’s ratio of sell-side orders per spoofed executing purchase was more than 4 times that of non-spoofed executed purchases.

Phunware, Inc. is represented by national law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

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About Phunware, Inc.

Phunware, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHUN) is a publicly traded technology company providing companies the products, solutions, data, and services necessary to engage, manage and monetize their mobile application portfolios and audiences globally at scale.

About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is recognized as one of the premier law firms in the country handling major, complex plaintiff-side litigation. With more than 100 attorneys, Cohen Milstein has offices in Washington, DC; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL.; Minneapolis, MN; New York, NY; Palm Beach Gardens, FL.; Philadelphia, PA.; and Raleigh, NC.