Kaye Scholer Achieves Complete Victory for Spirit AeroSystems in Securities Class Action
Kaye Scholer Achieves Complete Victory for Spirit AeroSystems in Securities Class Action Appeal
Kaye Scholer obtained a significant appellate victory on behalf of longtime client Spirit AeroSystems Holdings in a securities class action against the company and four of its current and former executives. Spirit is one of the world's largest non-OEM designers and manufacturers of aerostructures for commercial aircraft.
On July 5, 2016, the Tenth Circuit affirmed Kansas federal judge Eric Melgren’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ securities class action complaint with prejudice, resulting in a complete dismissal and victory for Spirit. The panel agreed with the district court and Kaye Scholer that plaintiffs failed to adequately plead scienter in their complaint alleging that Spirit and its executives made false and misleading statements that artificially inflated Spirit’s stock price before the company recognized a forward loss of $590 million on certain manufacturing programs in the third quarter of 2012.
“This is a significant win for Spirit, and we are absolutely delighted by the Tenth Circuit’s decision to dismiss the complaint,” said Kaye Scholer Litigation partner Phil Geraci, who argued the appeal.
In addition to Geraci, the Kaye Scholer appellate team included Litigation partner Jeffrey Fuisz, counsel Aaron Miner and associate Jane He. The broader team representing Spirit also includes Joel Greenberg, Jonathan Green, Mark Kingsley, Jeff London, Sheryl Gittlitz, Chris Peterson, Aaron Rubinstein, David Menchel, Dave Kerschner and Alice Huling.
