The New York State Teachers’ Retirement System is leading a class action lawsuit against General Motors; the suit claims GM made misleading and false statements about the safety of their vehicles before disclosing many vehicles had faulty ignition switches.
From Pensions & Investments:
New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, Albany, has been approved as lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against General Motors Co., claiming GM committed fraud in its disclosure of faulty ignition switches.
John Cardillo, a spokesman for the $108.2 billion pension fund, said in an e-mail Friday that NYSTRS had been chosen lead plaintiff, but he declined to provide details. “We do not comment on pending litigation,” he wrote.
The pension fund was granted lead plaintiff status Oct. 24 by U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker of the U.S. District Court in Detroit. In her ruling, Ms. Parker said the pension fund had suffered the greatest losses among four plaintiffs seeking lead-plaintiff status.
According to Ms. Parker’s ruling, the pension fund owns about $98 million in GM shares, and it claimed an estimated loss of $6.23 million between Nov. 17, 2010, and March 10, 2014 — the period cited in the suit against GM.
The complaint against GM alleges the company “touted the safety, quality and reliability of GM vehicles … despite their knowledge that millions of GM vehicles were plagued with faulty ignition switches,” Ms. Parker wrote, citing the complaint. “Throughout the class period, defendants made allegedly false and/or misleading statements, and failed to disclose materially adverse facts related to the quality and safety of GM vehicles and defects in those vehicles.”
The NYSTRS manages $95 billion in assets.