Brosious v. Children's Place Retail Stores

189 F.R.D. 138, 44 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 732, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12986, 1999 WL 643214
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedAugust 23, 1999
DocketNo. Civ.A. 97-5021(JC)
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 189 F.R.D. 138 (Brosious v. Children's Place Retail Stores) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brosious v. Children's Place Retail Stores, 189 F.R.D. 138, 44 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 732, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12986, 1999 WL 643214 (D.N.J. 1999).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

LIFLAND, District Judge.

Presently before the Court is plaintiffs’ motion for class certification pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. For the reasons set forth herein, the motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

The Children’s Place is a specialty retailer of apparel and accessories for newborn to twelve-year-old children. On September 18, 1997, pursuant to a Registration Statement and a Prospectus which was incorporated into the Registration Statement (collectively, the “Prospectus”), Defendants sold four million shares of Children’s Place stock in an initial public offering (“the IPO”) at the price of $14 per share. Prior to the market opening on October 14, 1997, the Company announced that its sales for the third quarter would be significantly lower than anticipated and that future earnings would be adversely affected by excessive inventory levels. In response to this announcement, the price of the Company’s stock fell to $7,531 per share, representing a decline in value of 46% in less than one month.

Several complaints were filed following the Company’s October 14th announcement. These cases were subsequently consolidated by the Court and on February 26, 1998, the First Consolidated Amended Complaint (“FAC”) was filed on behalf of the named plaintiffs individually, and on behalf of a class of persons who purchased shares of Children’s Place common stock pursuant to the [141]*141Prospectus issued in connection with the IPO (collectively, “plaintiffs”). A Second Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint was filed on October 5,1998 (“SAC”).

The SAC alleges that the Prospectus contained misleading statements or omissions in violation of §§ 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. Some of the misleading statements allegedly made by the defendants were about the Company’s “ability to monitor its sales and inventory” through the use of its “highly touted POS System,” a “point-of-sale tracking system that monitors the Company’s sales and inventory levels at each of its 140 stores.” Specifically, plaintiffs point to the following statements made in the Prospectus:

Unit and dollar sales information is updated daily in the merchandise reporting systems by polling each store’s POS [point-of-sale] terminals. Through automated nightly two-way electronic communication with each store, sales information, payroll hours and other store initiated transfers are uploaded to the host system, and price changes and other information are downloaded through the POS devices. (Prospectus at 35).
The merchandise planning team also monitors current and future inventory levels on a weekly basis and analyzes sales patterns to predict future demand for various categories ---- The merchandise planning
team is also responsible for planning and allocating merchandise to each store based on sales volume levels for each department, category and key basic item and other factors. (Prospectus at 30).
The Company evaluates information obtained through daily reporting to identify sales trends and to implement merchandising decisions regarding markdowns and allocation of merchandise. (Prospectus at 35).
The Company also intends to replace its POS software during fiscal 1998 to enhance customer service and communication between the Company’s central office and its stores. (Prospectus at 34).

However, according to plaintiffs, “[p]rior to and at the time of the Offering, the POS System was highly problematic as it seized up or shut down on numerous occasions, causing the Company to lose critical sales and inventory data in the process.” These “malfunctions were' so widespread and problematic that the Company was already committed to replacing the system in Fiscal 1998.” Therefore, plaintiffs assert that the statements made by defendants in the Prospectus were “materially false and misleading at the time they were made, as they merely presented the capabilities of the POS System without disclosing the widespread problems that the Company was experiencing with the POS System at the time the statements were made.”

Plaintiffs seek to represent a class consisting of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of The Children’s Place between September 18, 1997, the date of the company’s initial public offering, and October 13, 1997, inclusive, because of a false and misleading Prospectus and Registration Statement issued in connection with the IPO.

Defendants concede that a class should be certified, but object to the scope of the class plaintiffs seek to certify. Defendants submit that a class should be certified to include only the IPO purchasers, as follows:

All individuals who purchased directly from the Company’s underwriters any of the 4,000,000 shares of The Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. common stock in the Company’s initial public offering commenced on September 18, 1997, excluding defendants and related persons or entities.

In support of their argument that the class should be limited to initial purchasers, defendants contend that sections 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 regulate only new public offerings and do not afford a remedy to secondary purchasers.

Defendants also object to one of the proposed class representatives, Daniel T. Polner, because he is a former employee of Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc., an underwriter in this action. Defendants contend that Polner had unique access to information concerning the issuer while employed at Legg Mason and that therefore his claims are not typical of those of the ordinary investor.

[142]*142 DISCUSSION

A. Scope of the Proposed Class Defendants argue that the class should not include secondary purchasers because secondary purchasers do not have standing to assert claims under sections 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933. As standing is a threshold inquiry, the Court will address the scope of the class prior to determining whether class certification is appropriate in this action.

Section 12: Section 12 provides that any person who

offers or sells a security ... by the use of any means or instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or of the mails, by means of a prospectus or oral communication, which includes an untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading (the purchaser not knowing of such untruth or omission), and who shall not sustain the burden of proof that he did not know, and in the exercise of reasonable care could not have known, of such untruth or omission, shall be liable subject to subsection (b) of this section, to the person purchasing such security from him, who may sue either at law or in equity in any court of competent jurisdiction, to recover the consideration paid for such security with interest thereon, less the amount of any income received thereon, upon the tender of such security or for damages if he no longer owns the security.

15 U.S.C. § 77i(a)(2).1

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

MAYER v. AETNA INC.
D. New Jersey, 2023
RIDLEY v. MRS BPO, LLC
D. New Jersey, 2019
Pollak v. Portfolio Recovery Assocs., LLC
285 F. Supp. 3d 812 (D. New Jersey, 2018)
Roth v. AON Corp.
238 F.R.D. 603 (N.D. Illinois, 2006)
In re PE Corp. Securities Litigation
228 F.R.D. 102 (D. Connecticut, 2005)
Carpe v. Aquila, Inc.
224 F.R.D. 454 (W.D. Missouri, 2004)
Szczubelek v. Cendant Mortgage Corp.
215 F.R.D. 107 (D. New Jersey, 2003)
In Re JDN Realty Corp. Securities Litigation
182 F. Supp. 2d 1230 (N.D. Georgia, 2002)
McKowan Lowe & Co., Ltd. v. Jasmine Ltd.
127 F. Supp. 2d 516 (D. New Jersey, 2000)
Rowe v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
191 F.R.D. 398 (D. New Jersey, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
189 F.R.D. 138, 44 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 732, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12986, 1999 WL 643214, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brosious-v-childrens-place-retail-stores-njd-1999.