Mar 1, 2013 - Retirement
Funds Can Sue Amgen ... announcement by State Treasurer Denise L.
Nappier and Connecticut Attorney General George
Jepsen.
March 1, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The
Supreme Court of the United States
issued an opinion allowing the Connecticut
Retirement Plans and Trust Funds to assert claims in a securities fraud case
against Amgen.
The opinion
affirmed a lower court order certifying that the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds
can assert claims in the case on behalf of a class of injured investors.
Writing for the six-justice majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg rejected
Amgen’s arguments that the District Court was required to resolve at the class
certification stage the issue of whether Amgen’s alleged misrepresentations
were “material” to investors, according to an announcement by State Treasurer
Denise L. Nappier and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen. The court
held that this is an inquiry into the merits of the case that more properly
should be resolved on a motion for summary judgment or at
trial.
The decision
clears the way for the Connecticut Retirement
Plans and Trust Funds to return to the Central District of California and continue pursuing claims
against Amgen on behalf of all investors injured by Amgen’s alleged
fraud.
The funds
allege that California-based biotech giant Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and certain of its
former executives contrived to mislead the investing public about the true
value of Amgen stock through a series of mis-statements and omissions about two
of Amgen's flagship products, Epogen and Aranesp. The case was first filed in
2007, following a series of public disclosures of negative information about
the products that caused significant decreases in the price of Amgen’s
stock.
Former participants of the Amgen Retirement and Savings Plan
and the Retirement and Savings Plan for Amgen Manufacturing Ltd. filed a lawsuit
with similar claims in 2010. That case was dismissed (see “Court Dismisses Claims against Amgen in Stock Drop Case”).