July 7, 2015
Bernstein Liebhard LLP today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of purchasers (the “Class”) of Edison International (“Edison” or the “Company”) (NYSE: EIX) securities between July 31, 2014 and June 24, 2015 (the “Class Period”) alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its officers (the “Complaint”).
Edison, through its subsidiaries, generates and supplies electricity. Southern California Edison (“SCE”) is Edison’s largest subsidiary. SCE is regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (the “CPUC”).
In October 2012, the CPUC began investigating the closure of two reactor units of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (“SONGS”), a nuclear power plant in Southern California owned and operated by SCE. Following this investigation, Edison reached a $3.3 billion dollar settlement, pursuant to which Edison would refund customers for excess charges they had incurred to support the SONGS units after they were taken offline and never returned to service.
The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Edison made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Edison’s ex parte contacts with CPUC decision makers were more extensive than the Company had reported to CPUC; (ii) that belated disclosure of Edison’s ex parte contacts with CPUC personnel would jeopardize the Company’s $3.3 billion dollar SONGS settlement; and (iii) as a result of the above, the Company’s financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On May 4, 2015, a SFGate article reported that SCE documents revealed a previously unreported May 2014 meeting between CPUC and SCE executives, at which the parties discussed donating millions of dollars to a UCLA institute where a CPUC executive was an advisor.
On this news, Edison shares declined $2.87 per share over two days of trading to close at $59.60 on May 6, 2015.
On June 24, 2015, in response to a report released by Strumwasser & Woocher on June 22, 2015 which described the ex parte meetings as “frequent, pervasive, and sometimes outcome-determinative,” the Utility Reform Network recommended SCE be charged with “fraud by concealment” and urged the CPUC to set aside the SONGS settlement and reopen its investigation.
On this news, Edison shares declined $1.56 per share to close at $56.07 on June 24, 2015.
Plaintiffs seek to recover damages on behalf of all Class members who purchased Edison securities during the Class Period. If you purchased Edison securities as described above, and either lost money on the transaction or still hold the security, you may wish to join in this action to serve as lead plaintiff. In order to do so, you must meet certain requirements set forth in the applicable law and file appropriate papers no later than September 4, 2015.
A “lead plaintiff” is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the court must determine that the class member’s claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Bernstein Liebhard LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
If you are interested in discussing your rights as an Edison shareholder and/or have information relating to the matter, please contact Joseph R. Seidman, Jr. at (877) 779-1414 or seidman@bernlieb.com.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP has pursued hundreds of securities, consumer and shareholder rights cases and recovered over $3 billion for its clients. The National Law Journal has recognized Bernstein Liebhard for twelve consecutive years as one of the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country.
You can obtain a copy of the complaint from the clerk of the court for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.