San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund v. Dentsply Sirona Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 10, 2025
Docket1:22-cv-06339
StatusUnknown

This text of San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund v. Dentsply Sirona Inc. (San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund v. Dentsply Sirona Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund v. Dentsply Sirona Inc., (S.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SAN ANTONIO FIRE AND POLICE PENSION FUND et al., Plaintiffs, 22-cv-6339 (AS) -against- DENTSPLY SIRONA INC. et al., OPINION AND ORDER Defendants.

ARUN SUBRAMANIAN, United States District Judge: This is a securities-fraud action. Defendant Dentsply Sirona manufactures professional dental products and technologies. Plaintiffs accuse defendants of making misleading statements to cover up falling demand, supply-chain constraints, and defective products, in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5. The Court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the case, Dkt. 106, and plaintiffs now move to certify the putative class, Dkt. 122. For the reasons given below, plaintiffs’ motion is GRANTED. LEGAL STANDARDS A district court may only certify a class after it is satisfied the proposed class meets Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)’s prerequisites. Roach v. T.L. Cannon Corp., 778 F.3d 401, 405 (2d Cir. 2015). “Those prerequisites require showing that: (1) ‘the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable’; (2) ‘there are questions of law and fact common to the class’; (3) ‘the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical’ of those of the class; and (4) ‘the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.’” Id. (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)). The district court must also ensure that the proposed class is appropriate under one of the three bases Rule 23(b) outlines. Id. Relevant here is the last of that trio, which “allows for certification if both (1) ‘questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members,’ and (2) ‘a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.’” Id. (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3)). “Predominance is satisfied if resolution of some of the legal or factual questions that qualify each class member’s case as a genuine controversy can be achieved through generalized proof, and if these particular issues are more substantial than the issues subject only to individualized proof.” Id. (quotation omitted). “The party seeking class certification bears the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that each of Rule 23’s requirements have been met.” Johnson v. Nextel Commc’ns Inc., 780 F.3d 128, 137 (2d Cir. 2015). DISCUSSION I. The class action satisfies Rule 23(a). Defendants raise no objection to class certification under Rule 23(a). See Dkt. 137. And the Court finds that plaintiffs have handily demonstrated that they satisfy each of Rule 23(a)’s requirements. Briefly: A. Numerosity “Numerosity is presumed when the putative class has forty or more members.” Onate v. AHRC Health Care, Inc., 2023 WL 8648167, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 14, 2023). “In securities fraud class actions relating to publicly owned and nationally listed corporations, ‘the numerosity requirement may be satisfied by a showing that a large number of shares were outstanding and traded during the relevant period.’” In re Bank of Am. Corp. Sec., Derivative, & Emp. Ret. Income Sec. Act (ERISA) Litig., 281 F.R.D. 134, 138 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) (citation omitted). Here, more than a thousand institutions held Dentsply stock, an average of 9.6 million shares of Dentsply common stock traded weekly, and Dentsply had about 215 million shares outstanding. See Dkt. 126 at 8. B. Commonality Commonality is a low bar, especially in securities-fraud actions. See In re Sumitomo Copper Litig., 194 F.R.D. 480, 482 (S.D.N.Y. 2000); In re NIO, Inc. Sec. Litig., 2023 WL 5048615, at *5 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 8, 2023). Questions of law and fact common to the class include: 1) whether defendants made misleading misstatements or misleadingly omitted information; 2) whether the alleged fraud was material; and 3) whether defendants acted with scienter. See Fogarazzao v. Lehman Bros., 232 F.R.D. 176, 180 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) (“In general, where putative class members have been injured by similar material misrepresentations and omissions, the commonality requirement is satisfied.”). C. Typicality “The Typicality Requirement is satisfied when each class member’s claim arises from the same course of events and each class member makes similar legal arguments to prove the defendant’s liability.” McIntire v. China MediaExpress Holdings, Inc., 38 F. Supp. 3d 415, 424 (S.D.N.Y. 2014). The proposed class has both. Class members’ claims are based on defendants’ allegedly deceptive conduct, and each class member alleges that defendants’ scheme and misrepresentation propped up Dentsply stock prices, in violation of the securities laws. See In re Barrick Gold Sec. Litig., 314 F.R.D. 91, 103 (S.D.N.Y. 2016) (commonality met where “plaintiffs allege that class members have been injured by similar misrepresentations and omissions”); see also In re Bank of Am., 281 F.R.D. at 139. D. Adequacy To determine whether a named plaintiff will “fairly and adequately protect the class,” a court looks to “whether (1) plaintiff’s interests are antagonistic to the interest of other members of the class; and (2) plaintiff’s attorneys are qualified, experienced and able to conduct the litigation.” In re Aphria, Inc. Sec. Litig., 342 F.R.D. 199, 205 (S.D.N.Y. 2022) (citation omitted). Plaintiffs’ claims are identical to those of all class members, and plaintiffs have ably prosecuted this action so far. Similarly, plaintiffs’ counsel are highly experienced and successful securities- fraud litigators. II. The class action satisfies Rule 23(b)(3). Defendants are less sanguine about plaintiffs’ prospects under Rule 23(b)(3). Defendants say the class can’t be certified for a single reason: because plaintiffs’ damages model fails under the Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. 27 (2013). See Dkt. 137 at 1. A. Predominance The Second Circuit has “interpreted Comcast as precluding class certification ‘only . . . because the sole theory of liability that the district court determined was common in that antitrust action, overbuilder competition, was a theory of liability that the plaintiffs’ model indisputably failed to measure when determining the damages for that injury.’” Waggoner v. Barclays PLC, 875 F.3d 79, 105–06 (2d Cir. 2017) (omission in original) (quoting Sykes v. Mel S. Harris & Assocs. LLC, 780 F.3d 70, 88 (2d Cir. 2015)). In other words, “Comcast held that a model for determining classwide damages relied upon to certify a class under Rule 23(b)(3) must actually measure damages that result from the class’s asserted theory of injury.” Roach, 778 F.3d at 407. “All that is required at class certification is that ‘the plaintiffs must be able to show that their damages stemmed from the defendant’s actions that created the legal liability.’” Sykes, 780 F.3d at 88 (quoting Leyva v. Medline Indus. Inc., 716 F.3d 510, 514 (9th Cir. 2013)). Plaintiffs rely on an “out-of-pocket” damages model. As explained by plaintiffs’ damages expert, Dr.

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Related

Comcast Corp. v. Behrend
133 S. Ct. 1426 (Supreme Court, 2013)
Jesus Leyva v. Medlin Industries Inc
716 F.3d 510 (Ninth Circuit, 2013)
McIntire v. China MediaExpress Holdings, Inc.
38 F. Supp. 3d 415 (S.D. New York, 2014)
Carpenters Pension Trust Fund of St. Louis v. PLC
750 F.3d 227 (Second Circuit, 2014)
Roach v. T.L. Cannon Corp.
778 F.3d 401 (Second Circuit, 2015)
Sykes v. Mel S. Harris & Associates LLC
780 F.3d 70 (Second Circuit, 2015)
Johnson v. Nextel Communications Inc.
780 F.3d 128 (Second Circuit, 2015)
Waggoner v. Barclays PLC
875 F.3d 79 (Second Circuit, 2017)
In re Sumitomo Copper Litigation
194 F.R.D. 480 (S.D. New York, 2000)
Fogarazzo v. Lehman Bros.
232 F.R.D. 176 (S.D. New York, 2005)
In re Alstom Sa Securities Litigation
253 F.R.D. 266 (S.D. New York, 2008)
Carpenters Pension Trust Fund v. Barclays PLC
310 F.R.D. 69 (S.D. New York, 2015)
Deangelis v. Corzine
310 F.R.D. 230 (S.D. New York, 2015)
In re Barrick Gold Securities Litigation
314 F.R.D. 91 (S.D. New York, 2016)

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Bluebook (online)
San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund v. Dentsply Sirona Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/san-antonio-fire-and-police-pension-fund-v-dentsply-sirona-inc-nysd-2025.