United States District Court, D. Colorado
OREGON LABORERS EMPLOYERS PENSION TRUST FUND, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff,
v.
MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES INC., HOWARD L. LANCE, BIGGS PORTER, and MICHAEL B. WIRASEKARA, JR., Defendants.
ORDER CONSOLIDATING ACTIONS AND APPOINTING LEAD
PLAINTIFFS AND LEAD COUNSEL
William J. Martínez, United States District Judge
Plaintiff
Logan Durant (“Durant”) filed this proposed
securities fraud class action lawsuit on January 14, 2019.
(ECF No. 1.) Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act (“PSLRA”) (principally codified at 15 U.S.C.
§ 78u-4), Durant was then required,
[n]ot later than 20 days after the date on which the
complaint [was] filed, [to] cause to be published, in a
widely circulated national business-oriented publication or
wire service, a notice advising members of the purported
plaintiff class-
(I) of the pendency of the action, the
claims asserted therein, and the purported class period; and
(II) that, not later than 60 days after the
date on which the notice is published, any member of the
purported class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff
of the purported class.
15 U.S.C.A. § 78u-4(a)(3)(A)(i). Durant's
counsel's law firm published the required notice in
Globe Newswire on the same day the suit was filed,
announcing that lead plaintiff motions were due no later than
March 15, 2019. (ECF No. 22-1.)
On
March 14, 2019, Howard and Jill Schwartz (together, the
“Schwartzs”) filed a lawsuit that was
substantially the same as Durant's action but had a
longer proposed class period. See Schwartz v. Maxar Tech.
Inc., Case No. 19-cv-758 (D. Colo., filed Mar. 14,
2019), ECF No. 1, ¶ 1 (“Schwartz
Complaint”). The proposed class period in the
Schwartz Complaint runs from February 22, 2018,
through January 7, 2019, whereas the proposed class period in
the instant action runs from March 29, 2018, through January
7, 2019. Id. On the same day that the Schwartz
Complaint was filed, the Schwartzs's counsel's law
firm published the required notice with the expanded class
period in BusinessWire, and announced that lead
plaintiff motions were due no later than March 15, 2019. (ECF
No. 22-1.) The following day, the Schwartzs filed a notice of
motion to consolidate. Schwartz v. Maxar, ECF No. 8.
Thereafter, U.S. District Judge Chrstine M. Arguello stayed
the Schwartz action until sixty days after the
consolidation and lead counsel motions in the instant case
are resolved. Schwartz v. Maxar, ECF No. 23.
On
March 15, 2019, six groups of potential lead plaintiffs filed
motions seeking appointment as such in the instant action:
• The Schwartzs filed a motion claiming total investment
losses of approximately $111, 264, and seeking consolidation
with the Schwartz action (ECF No. 21 at 11, 13);
• Phillup Newhope and Michael Slaunwhite as Trustee of
the Slaunwhite Family Trust (together,
“Slaunwhite”) filed a motion claiming total
investment losses of approximately $317, 294, and seeking
consolidation with the Schwartz action (ECF No. 23
at 5, 7);
• Gabriel Assioun, Kelly Svendsen, and Babulal Tarapara
(collectively, the “Maxar Investment Group”)
filed a motion claiming total investment losses of $121, 684,
and seeking consolidation with the Schwartz action
(ECF No. 29; ECF No. 30 at 8, 11);
• The Miami Firefighters' Relief & Pension Fund
(“Miami Firefighters' Fund”) filed a motion
claiming total investment losses of approximately $30, 164
(ECF No. 24 at 5);
• Rostyslav Nagornyi filed a motion claiming total
investment losses of approximately $243, 565.70 (ECF No. 27
at 7); and
• The Oregon Laborers Employers Pension Trust Fund
(“Oregon Trust”) filed a motion claiming total
investment losses of ...