{"id":12899,"date":"2022-02-13T23:27:01","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T23:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/13\/cooks-china-comments-lawsuit-gains-class-action-status\/"},"modified":"2022-02-13T23:27:01","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T23:27:01","slug":"cooks-china-comments-lawsuit-gains-class-action-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/13\/cooks-china-comments-lawsuit-gains-class-action-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Cook’s China comments lawsuit gains class-action status"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A lawsuit brought against Apple by an English council over comments made by Tim Cook<\/a> about iPhone demand in China has been granted class-action status. <\/p>\n

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A group of shareholders led by the UK’s Norfolk County Council has succeeded in converting its lawsuit<\/a> against Apple to a class action version. The move opens the lawsuit up to any affected shareholder, and potentially raises the stakes for the iPhone<\/a> maker. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The lawsuit deals with commentary by Cook during the November 2018 earnings call<\/a>, in that the CEO said Apple was seeing sales pressure in some markets. However, Cook went on to state “I would not put China in that category. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2019, Apple revised its revenue guidance prediction<\/a> down because of lower iPhone sales in China. Shareholders, including Norfolk County Council, believe the revised guidance was too late, and that Apple should’ve foreseen the issue. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After being informed in November 2020 that the shareholders could bring a proposed class-action suit over accusations the company concealed falling sales demand, the group’s proposal was granted, reports<\/a> The Telegraph<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers advised Apple had failed to dismiss the council’s efforts to turn the lawsuit into a class-action suit, referring to Apple’s arguments on the matter as “distortions.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Norfolk County Council is involved as it runs the Norfolk Pension Fund, valued at multiple billions of pounds. In the original lawsuit, it was claimed the fund lost close to $1 million over the comments. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The change to a class action suit does more than enable more shareholders to join in against Apple, as it also reduces the standard of proof required by claimants. Under a “presumption of reliance,” the council wouldn’t need to demonstrate that it made trading decisions after hearing Cook’s analyst call comments. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to Apple, Cook’s comments were a statement of opinion, and therefore protected. The claim “fails to plead any actionably false or misleading statement.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n