Hafeez v. Am. Express Co.

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 003) 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 were read on this motion to/for DISMISS. DECISION + ORDER ON MOTION In this action commenced by plaintiff Tariq Hafeez (plaintiff), as a shareholder of defendant American Express Company (defendant), seeks to inspect defendant’s books and records. Defendant moves, pre-answer, to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint for failing to comply with the requirements under CPLR 401-411 and New York Business Corporation Law (BCL) §624(d). Plaintiff opposes. Background Defendant is a financial services company that primarily provides credit and charge products and is one of the world’s largest issuers of payment cards (NYSCEF # 2 — complaint, 7). Plaintiff owns common shares of American Express stock (id., 3). According to the complaint, beginning in March 2020, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a series of articles reporting defendant’s abusive practices in the sale of small business cards and consumer cards (id.,

13-28). In particular, the WSJ articles focused on a marketing campaign of defendant called Project Lincoln, which began in 2015 and centered on retaining customers after the end of defendant’s exclusive credit-card partnership with Costco (id.). The WSJ articles detailed the improper sales tactics and raised red flags of defendant’s mismanagement, which are incorporated in the complaint (id.). The complaint further alleges that the illicit sales practices continued even after Project Lincoln ended in 2016 (id.,