Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

High Court Raises Bar for Investors' Suits

Companies trump shareholders for second time in a week

By M. Morris,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 21, 2007 3:14 PM CDT
Email

(Newser) – Investors who accuse companies of fraud based on executives' misdeeds must show that they acted intentionally, the Supreme Court ruled today, making it easier for corporations to have shareholder lawsuits dismissed. The decision helps protect companies against frivolous suits by clarifying a 1995 law, the Times reports, but critics say the existing limits are sufficient.

The decision, the second this week to go against investors, concerns Tellabs, a telecom company whose executives made misleadingly optimistic statements about the firm's prospects. In other decisions, the justices made it more difficult for federal prisoners to challenge sentencing guidelines and unanimously ruled against a high school football coach who claimed limits on recruiting infringed his free-speech rights.

Tellabs Profits Plunge 96 Percent, Jobs Cut
Tellabs Profits Plunge 96 Percent, Jobs Cut   (Getty Images)
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivers a speech to the United Jewish Communities 2004 International Lion of Judah Conference in Washington in this Oct. 18, 2004 file photo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivers a speech to the United Jewish Communities 2004 International Lion of Judah Conference in Washington in this Oct. 18, 2004 file photo. (AP Photo/Evan...   (Associated Press)
Supreme Court Justices Pose For Class Photo
Supreme Court Justices Pose For "Class Photo"   (Getty Images)
The Supreme Court Building
The Supreme Court Building   ((c) a2gemma)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

More on the sentencing-guidelines case
Reuters

More on the football coach's suit over recruiting rules
Washington Post

Primary source

Link to the index of this session's opinions
U.S. Supreme Court

 
high school • free speech • investors • shareholders • football • business • telecom • sentencing • lawsuit • Tellabs • US Supreme Court

More Newser Stories

Tyco Ponies Up Record $3B in Shareholder Settlement
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne