WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) — AT&T is facing a class action lawsuit from shareholders alleging it failed to fully disclose environmental and health issues with its lead cables, which caused stock prices to fall.
General Retirement System of The City of Detroit, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint Aug. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against AT&T Inc., and others, alleging violations of federal securities laws.
The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that AT&T, during the class period, failed to disclose that the company was responsible for "an extensive network" of lead cables that were previously laid in several areas around the country.
The plaintiffs further allege that the lead cables pose a risk to the environment, company employees and the communities in the surrounding areas. They claim AT&T's annual reports contained false and misleading statements regarding the company's transition to an updated infrastructure and that the company's abandoned cables were covered in lead, a known neurotoxin.
They also claim AT&T failed to provide its employees with proper safety training or equipment to protect them from the toxic lead. The plaintiffs allege that as a result of AT&T's misrepresentations, AT&T securities' market price was artificially inflated and that in July of 2023, after an investigation revealed an estimated 200,000 miles of lead cable still existed and that testing of workers' blood lead testing had been extended, stock prices fell $0.38 per share.
The plaintiffs seek monetary relief, interest, trial by jury and all other just relief. They are represented by Mitchell Twersky, Jack Fruchter, Atara Twersky and Lawrence Levit of Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky LLP in New York and Michael Vanoverbeke of Vanoverbeke, Michaud & Timmony PC in Detroit.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York case number 1:23-CV-07351-JLR