Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. v. Tellabs, Inc.

256 F.R.D. 586, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13523, 2009 WL 448895
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 23, 2009
DocketNo. 02 C 4356
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 256 F.R.D. 586 (Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. v. Tellabs, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. v. Tellabs, Inc., 256 F.R.D. 586, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13523, 2009 WL 448895 (N.D. Ill. 2009).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

AMY J. ST. EVE, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, appointment of class rep[591]*591resentatives, and appointment of class counsel. In their Second Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint (“SAC”), (R. 63-1, Second Am. Compl.), Plaintiffs allege that Defendants Tellabs, Inc. (“Tellabs”) and certain officers and board members of Tellabs allegedly violated securities laws by making a series of deceptive statements and offering inflated earnings guidance. (R. 63-1 at ¶ 5.) For the following reasons, the Court, in its discretion, grants Plaintiffs’ motion, but disqualifies Alan Mobley from serving as a class representative.

BACKGROUND

The Court previously set forth the facts of this case extensively in its previous opinions, see Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. v. Tellabs, Inc., Case No. 02 C 4356, 2008 WL 2178150, *1 (N.D.Ill. May 22, 2008); see also Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. v. Tellabs Inc., 513 F.3d 702, 705 (7th Cir.2008); Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. v. Tellabs, Inc., 437 F.3d 588, 603-05 (7th Cir.2006), vacated in part, 551 U.S. 308, -, 127 S.Ct. 2499, 2509, 168 L.Ed.2d 179 (2007), and thus familiarity with those opinions is presumed. Accordingly, the Court recites only the facts relevant to resolution of the present issues and additional background facts that provide helpful context. Following the Court’s prior rulings, Plaintiffs’ Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 claims remain pending only against Defendants Tellabs and Richard Notebaert. 15 U.S.C. § 788(b); 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5.

I. The Parties

Defendant Tellabs is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Lisle, Illinois. (R. 63-1, SAC ¶ 16.) Tellabs designs, manufactures, markets, and services optical networking, broadband access, and voice quality enhancement solutions. (Id. ¶ 2.) Plaintiffs are current and former holders of Tellabs stock.

The remaining individual Defendants include: Birck, Jackman, Notebaert, and Ryan (collectively, the “Individual Defendants”). Each of the Individual Defendants was an officer and/or director of Tellabs during the Class Period. Michael Birck, a founder of the company, served as chief executive officer and president of Tellabs from 1975 through 2000 and served as chairman of Tel-labs’s board of directors beginning on September 18, 2000. (Id. ¶ 17.) Brian Jackman was a director of Tellabs and served as president of global systems and technology and executive vice president from 1998 through 2001. (Id. ¶ 18.) Richard Notebaert served as a Tellabs’s director from April 19, 2000 to June 17, 2002, and served as chief executive officer and president of Tellabs from September 18, 2000 to June 17, 2002. (Id ¶ 20.) Joan Ryan served as Tellabs’s executive vice president and chief financial officer from February 2, 2000 to February 7, 2003. (Id. ¶ 22.)

II. Plaintiffs’ Allegations

Plaintiffs bring this putative class action individually and on behalf of persons who purchased common stock of Defendant Tel-labs between December 11, 2000 and June 19, 2001 (the “Class Period”). Plaintiffs allege that Defendants engaged in a scheme to deceive and defraud investors as to the true value of Tellabs, Inc.’s common stock during the Class Period. In the pending claims, Plaintiffs contend that Defendants made a series of misrepresentations that fall into four categories: 1) statements regarding Tel-labs’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2000; 2) statements regarding demand for Tellabs’s TITAN 5500 product; 3) statements regarding the availability of Tellabs’s TITAN 6500 system; and 4) projections of Tellabs’s earnings and revenues during 2001. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ deceptive actions resulted in the artificial inflation of Tellabs’s stock price which reached a high of $67,125 per share on February 5, 2001, and that Plaintiffs suffered injury when they purchased Tellabs’s common stock at these artificially inflated prices.

A. Tellabs Products

The surviving claims in Plaintiffs’ SAC focus on certain statements Defendants made regarding two of Tellabs’s products: the TITAN 5500 and the TITAN 6500. According to the SAC, the internet and telecommunications sectors suffered a significant decline in demand in mid-2000. (Id. ¶ 3.) Given this decline, Plaintiffs allege that demand for Tel-labs’s products also decreased. (Id ¶¶ 3-4.) [592]*592Plaintiffs contend, however, that Defendants disguised the impact that this decline had on Tellabs and falsely assured investors that Tellabs’s performance was strong. Plaintiffs allege that contrary to Defendants’ public representations during the Class Period, the demand for the TITAN 5500 — Tellabs’s “best seller” — substantially slowed. (Id. ¶¶ 34-45.) As a result, in late 2000 and early 2001, Tellabs had “tons” of excess TITAN 5500s stored in a warehouse. (Id. ¶ 45.)

Similarly, Plaintiffs allege that the TITAN 6500 failed to sell as Tellabs had represented. (Id. ¶¶ 46-53.) Plaintiffs further contend that the TITAN 6500 actually was far behind schedule and not ready for release during the Class Period, was failing customer lab evaluations, and was inferior to other products offered at the time. (Id. ¶ 74.)

B. Statements by Tellabs1

Plaintiffs claim that beginning on December 11, 2000 and throughout the purported Class Period, Defendants made a series of false statements and omissions regarding Tellabs’s fourth quarter 2000 financials, Tel-labs’s products, and its future prospects that resulted in the artificial inflation of Tellabs’s stock price. Plaintiffs allege that the Individual Defendants are responsible for each of the statements.

For example, on December 11, 2000 — the start of the purported Class Period — Tellabs issued a press release announcing a multi-year sales agreement with Sprint for the TITAN 6500. (Id. ¶ 73.) The press release noted that the “TITAN 6500 system is available now.” (R. 149-1, Joint Status Rep. at 4.) Also on December 11, 2000, Tellabs held a conference with securities analysts in which it allegedly “reconfirmed consensus growth forecasts for fourth quarter 2000 and 2001.” (R. 63-1, SAC ¶ 76.)

On March 7, 2001, Tellabs issued a press release announcing that it was lowering its revenue and earnings per share expectations for the first quarter 2001. It noted that Tellabs could not recognize revenue from TITAN 6500 shipments in the first quarter but expected to do so in the second quarter of 2001. (Id. ¶ 99.) The next day, during a conference call with securities analysts on March 8, 2001, Notebaert told analysts “[w]e’re still seeing that product continue to maintain its growth rate; it’s still experiencing strong acceptance.” (Id.

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Bluebook (online)
256 F.R.D. 586, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13523, 2009 WL 448895, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/makor-issues-rights-ltd-v-tellabs-inc-ilnd-2009.