Ex-AbacusNext CEO, CTO Sue Former Employer for Securities Fraud
The two former executives say San Diego-based AbacusNext misled them about its upcoming sale, lowering the price at which it bought back their stock. AbacusNext says it will file a motion to dismiss.
April 01, 2021 at 01:28 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Legal Tech News
AbacusNext's former CEO Alessandra Lezama and CTO Jerome Fodor have accused their former employer of securities fraud through buying back their held stock at an artificially lowered price ahead of its recent sale to private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. The two filed a lawsuit in federal court March 8 against San Diego-based AbacusNext and its previous owners; AbacusNext will be filing a motion to dismiss the suit.
Lezama and Fodor worked at AbacusNext between 2013 and 2019. Through AbacusNext's 2015 sale to private equity firm PSG, in a separate sale five months later, and through company compensation packages, the lawsuit claims, Lezama and Fodor came to hold shares of the company worth $3.792 million between them at a purchase price of $100 per share, as well as more than 40,000 fully vested stock options. Lezama and Fodor were terminated from the company in April 2019 and May 2019, respectively.
A year later, the lawsuit alleges, AbacusNext made an offer to buy back Lezama and Fodor's shares: $125 per share for a total of $4.74 million, as well as $1,124,250 for the stock options. The suit says that on May 29, 2020, during discussions over the buy back, Fodor inquired about any offers to sell the company. A PSG principal allegedly told them, "We are not currently engaged in any formal discussions regarding the sale or similar transaction for a controlling interest in the Company at this time." In addition, the suit says the principal told Lezama "many of the options she held were 'practically out of the money,'" due to a strike price of $144, above the $125 value AbacusNext had given the stock.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Uber Not Responsible for Turning Over Information on 'Dangerous Riders' to Competitor, Judge Finds
5 minute read
Schools Win Again: Social Media Fails to Strike Public Nuisance Claims
5 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1US Magistrate Judge Embry Kidd Confirmed to 11th Circuit
- 2Shaq Signs $11 Million Settlement to Resolve Astrals Investor Claims
- 3McCormick Consolidates Two Tesla Chancery Cases
- 4Amazon, SpaceX Press Constitutional Challenges to NLRB at 5th Circuit
- 5Schools Win Again: Social Media Fails to Strike Public Nuisance Claims
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
