NEW YORK, Dec. 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of shareholders of PG&E Corporation (“PG&E” or the “Company”) (NYSE: PCG) against certain of the Company’s officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Northern District of California, and indexed under 19-cv-06996, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise, acquired PG&E securities between December 11, 2018, and October 11, 2019, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased PG&E securities within the class period, you have until December 24, 2019, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
PG&E Corporation was incorporated in 1905 and is based in San Francisco, California. The Company, through its subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“Pacific Gas”), engages in the sale and delivery of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers in northern and central California of the United States.
On January 29, 2019, PG&E filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. The Chapter 11 petition followed in the wake of multiple high-profile lawsuits against PG&E related to widely publicized and catastrophic wildfire incidents that occurred in California in 2015, 2017, and 2018. The incidents were faulted to PG&E, whose alleged misconduct apparently caused the Company’s equipment to ignite the wildfires. PG&E is facing $30 billion in liabilities in connection with the wildfires.
Following the wildfire incidents, PG&E began periodically initiating rolling power outages across its customers’ facilities and service areas. The blackouts were intended to reduce the risk of future wildfire events and scheduled for times when dangerous weather conditions exacerbated the chances of further wildfires occurring.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) PG&E’s purportedly enhanced wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed; (ii) as a result, PG&E was unprepared for the rolling power cuts the Company implemented to minimize wildfire risk; and (iii) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On October 12, 2019, the New York Times published an article reporting on PG&E’s efforts to deal with the rolling power cuts it had implemented in California aimed at minimizing wildfire risk. The article reported, among other issues, that “PG&E’s communications and computer systems faltered, and its website went down as customers tried to find out whether they would be cut off or spared.” According to the article, “[a]s the company struggled to tell people what areas would be affected and when chaos and confusion unspooled outside. Roads and businesses went dark without warning, nursing homes and other critical services scrambled to find backup power and even government agencies calling the company were put on hold for hours.”
On this news, PG&E’s stock price fell $0.35 per share, or 4.36%, to close at $7.67 per share on October 14, 2019, the following trading day.
On October 23, 2019, it was reported that as a last resort to prevent additional wildfires PG&E began shutting off power to 179,000 homes and businesses in 17 northern and central California counties.
Following this news, PG&E’s stock price fell $1.00 per share, or 12.2%, to close at $7.20 on October 24, 2019.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com .
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby, Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
