La Quinta successfully defeated a putative class action that claimed the hotel chain misled investors by failing to renovate in a timely fashion and to disclose the affect falling gas prices had on its bottom line, among other accusations.

The Police & Fire Retirement System for the City of Detroit, assigned as lead plaintiff in the case, laid out four arguments against the company. On top of allegedly misleading investors over the impact of gas prices and not acknowledging repair needs for years, plaintiffs claimed switching call centers during the class period and underwhelming property sales also represented material misstatements or omissions.

About a quarter of the chain's locations are in Texas, which suffered through a recession-induced drop of gas production that meant fewer customers traveling in-state—something the company should have been more up-front with to investors, plaintiffs allege.