Edison International, Inc. Shareholder Alert: Former SEC Attorney Willie Briscoe & Powers Taylor Investigate Possible Breache...
July 15 2015 - 12:22PM
Business Wire
Former United States Securities and Exchange Commission attorney
Willie Briscoe, founder of The Briscoe Law Firm, PLLC, and the
securities litigation firm of Powers Taylor LLP announce that a
federal class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of California against
Edison International, Inc. (“Edison”) (NYSE: EIX) and several
officers and directors for acts taken during the period of July 31,
2014 and June 24, 2015 (the “Class Period”).
Based upon the allegations in the class action, the firms are
investigating additional legal claims against the officers and
Board of Directors of Edison. If you are an affected Edison
shareholder and want to learn more about the lawsuit or join the
action, contact Willie Briscoe at The Briscoe Law Firm, PLLC via
email at shareholders@thebriscoelawfirm.com, Patrick Powers at
Powers Taylor LLP via email at shareholder@powerstaylor.com, or
call toll free at (877) 728-9607. There is no cost or fee to
you.
The California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) launched an
investigation in October 2012 related to the closure of two reactor
units at a large Southern California nuclear power plant (San
Onofre) owned by Edison’s largest subsidiary, Southern California
Edison (“SCE”). In November 2014, Edison entered into a settlement
agreement for $3.3 billion providing that it would refund customers
for excess charges incurred to support the two closed units.
According to the complaint, the defendants are alleged to have
violated certain provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Specifically, the complaint alleges, among other things, that
Edison failed to disclose that its ex parte contacts with the CPUC
decision makers were more extensive than Edison had reported to
CPUC, and that this delayed disclosure would jeopardize the
settlement. The complaint alleges that SCE submitted a notice to
the CPUC on February 9, 2015 disclosing that a previously
unreported ex parte contact took place during the time of the San
Onofre settlement negotiations. The notice indicates that Stephen
Pickett, then an executive vice president at SCE, and Michael
Peevey, then president of the CPUC, discussed the future of San
Onofre and a potential resolution of the investigation at an
industry conference on March 26, 2013. Edison’s failure to timely
report the ex parte meeting represented a possible violation of
CPUC rules governing ex parte contact between CPUC decision makers
and interested parties.
The complaint also alleges that, prompted by SCE’s delayed
disclosure and growing public criticism of the relationship between
the CPUC and California’s utilities, the CPUC ordered SCE to turn
over additional communications regarding the San Onofre settlement
negotiations. After reviewing the documents turned over by SCE, an
attorney for the Utility Reform Network (“TURN”) stated that the
documents showed “a number of unreported ex parte contacts and that
Edison violated the rules by not reporting those
communications.”
An article published on May 4, 2015 by SFGate reported that
SCE’s newly released documents revealed a previously unreported May
2014 meeting between Michael Peevey and SCE executives, at which
the parties discussed donating millions of dollars to a UCLA
institute at which Michael Peevey held an advisory post. On June
22, 2015, Strumwasser & Woocher released an independent report
commissioned by the CPUC describing such ex parte meetings as
“frequent, pervasive, and at least sometimes outcome-determinative”
and recommending banning them altogether in rate cases. On June 24,
2015, TURN filed an application with the CPUC that charged SCE with
“fraud by concealment” and urged the CPUC to set aside the
settlement and reopen its investigation. According to the
complaint, Edison stock dropped significantly immediately following
this series of announcements.
The Briscoe Law Firm, PLLC is a full service business
litigation, commercial transaction, and public advocacy firm with
more than 20 years of experience in complex litigation and
transactional matters.
Powers Taylor LLP is a boutique litigation law firm that handles
a variety of complex business litigation matters, including claims
of investor and stockholder fraud, shareholder oppression,
shareholder derivative suits, and security class actions.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150715006181/en/
The Briscoe Law Firm, PLLCWillie Briscoe,
877-728-9607shareholders@thebriscoelawfirm.comorPowers Taylor
LLPPatrick Powers, 877-728-9607shareholder@powerstaylor.com
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