Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Announces Shareholder Class Action Filed Against Trinity Industries, Inc. (TRN)
RADNOR, Pa., May 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP announces that the firm has filed a shareholder class action against Trinity Industries, Inc. (NYSE: TRN) ("Trinity" or the "Company") in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on behalf of purchasers of the Company's securities between February 20, 2014 and April 29, 2015, inclusive (the "Class Period").
For additional information about this lawsuit, or to request information about this action online, please visit http://www.ktmc.com/case/TrinityIndustries.
Shareholders who wish to discuss this action and their legal options are encouraged to contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (Darren J. Check, Esq., D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq. or Adrienne O. Bell, Esq.) at (888) 299-7706 or at [email protected].
Trinity is a diversified industrial company that owns a variety of businesses which provide products and services to the energy, transportation, chemical, and construction sectors. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, the Company manufactures, among other things, "highway products" that are sold throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. One of the highway products manufactured and sold by Trinity is the ET-Plus guardrail system, which is installed on highways across the nation.
As detailed in the Complaint, on October 20, 2014, the jury hearing a federal whistleblower case filed against the Company (United States ex rel. Harman v. Trinity Ind., Inc., No. 2:12-cv-00089-JRG (E.D. Tex.)) found that Trinity had violated the False Claims Act by making a series of false claims to the government about its ET-Plus system. As reported by Bloomberg, the jury found that Trinity "deliberately withheld information from the U.S. about cost-saving changes to its highway guardrail system that made it more dangerous," and ruled that "the company defrauded the government out of $175 million." Following the news of the jury's verdict against Trinity, shares of the Company's stock declined $4.45 per share, or more than 12%, to close on October 20, 2014 at $31.63 per share, on heavy trading volume.
On April 22, 2015, Bloomberg reported that Trinity's ET-Plus system was the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") federal criminal probe. The article further reported that "federal investigators are interviewing potential witnesses about issues including Trinity's relationship with the [Federal Highway Administration ("FHWA")]," and that "[i]nvestigators from a public corruption and special prosecutions unit of the Justice Department have subpoenaed documents from court battles involving Trinity's ET-Plus on behalf of a grand jury." On this news, shares of the Company's stock declined $3.43 per share, or over 9%, to close on April 22, 2015 at $32.82 per share.
On April 24, 2015, Trinity's executives confirmed that the DOJ was investigating the Company. Also on April 24, 2015, Trinity filed its Quarterly Report with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and reported that Company had been named in several class action lawsuits filed by municipalities in both the U.S. and Canada for its conduct with respect to the ET-Plus system. On this news, shares of the Company's stock declined an additional $4.66 per share, or nearly 14%, to close on April 24, 2015 at $28.70 per share.
Finally, on April 29, 2015, Bloomberg reported that Trinity had received a subpoena from the DOJ "over its allegedly defective guardrail safety system" seeking "documents from 1999 and later regarding Trinity's guardrail end terminals...." On this news, shares of the Company's stock declined an additional $0.98 per share, or nearly 3.5%, to close on April 30, 2015 at $27.09 per share.
The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Trinity and certain of its executive officers failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's financial well-being, business relationships, and prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose, inter alia, that: (1) Trinity had improperly obtained FHWA approval of the modified ET-Plus system in 2005 by, among other things, failing to disclose certain changes it had made to the ET-Plus system and conducting insufficient crash testing on the modified product; (2) Trinity had manipulated the FHWA's approval process for the modified ET-Plus system; and (3) such conduct caused the Company to violate the False Claims Act, exposing it to significant civil liabilities, criminal investigation, and bans of the ET-Plus system. As a result of the foregoing, the defendants' statements about the Company's financial well-being and future business prospects were lacking in a reasonable basis when made.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check (Darren J. Check, Esq., D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq. or Adrienne O. Bell, Esq.) at (888) 299 – 7706 or (610) 667 – 7706, or via e-mail at [email protected]. For additional information about the lawsuit, or to request information about the action, please visit http://www.ktmc.com/case/TrinityIndustries.
Members of the class may, no later than June 29, 2015, petition the Court for appointment as a lead plaintiff of the class. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class in the action. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Any member of the purported class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The plaintiff in the shareholder class action filed against Trinity is represented by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. The plaintiff's Complaint is captioned as Nemky v. Trinity Industries, Inc., et al., No. 2:15-cv-00732 (E.D. Tex). Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, or for additional information about participating in this action, please visit www.ktmc.com.
CONTACT:
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
Darren J. Check, Esq.
D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq.
Adrienne O. Bell, Esq.
280 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087
(888) 299 - 7706
(610) 667 - 7706
[email protected]
SOURCE Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
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