Class Actions
Judge Rejects Lead Plaintiff as ‘Willing Pawn’ in Backdating Suit
Posted Jul 17, 2008, 07:56 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected a pension fund as the lead plaintiff in a securities class action because it appeared to be "simply the willing pawn of counsel.”
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said representatives of the Steamship Trade Association International Longshoremen's Pension Fund had no genuine knowledge of the case, the New York Law Journal reports.
Rakoff declared that he would “not be party to a sham" and selected the Middlesex County Retirement System as the lead plaintiff. The plaintiffs’ law firm is Labaton Sucharow. Its suit contends Monster Worldwide Inc. failed to properly account for backdated stock options.
Lawyer Christopher Keller of Labaton Sucharow told the legal publication that "we have great respect for Judge Rakoff, but we feel his conclusion was a little harsh."
"Nothing about this was a sham," he added.
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