NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - A shareholder is suing Chipotle, alleging the fast food chain made false and misleading statements about its business to investors.
Susie Ong, individually and for all others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court Southern District of New York against Chipotle Mexican Grill, M. Steven Ells, Montgomery F. Moran, and John R. Hartung, alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act.
The suit states on several occasions between August-December 2015, patrons and employees of Chipotle restaurants nationwide became ill with norovirus, salmonella, and E. coli as a result of subpar health standards in the restaurants. The complaint states Chipotle stock fell after each of these instances, and on Jan. 6, Chipotle announced it was served in December 2015 with a federal grand jury subpoena as part of a criminal investigation tied to the previous summer's norovirus outbreak at a Simi Valley, California, Chipotle restaurant.
The suit alleges the defendants failed to disclose that Chipotle's quality controls were not in compliance with applicable consumer and workplace safety regulations, and that its quality controls were inadequate to safeguard consumer and employee health. As a result, Ong and others in the class alleged they suffered significant losses.
Ong and others in the class seek damages, interests, attorney fees and other costs. They are represented by attorneys Jeremy A. Lieberman, J. Alexander Hood, II, Marc Gorrie, and Patrick V. Dahlstrom of Pomerantz LLP in New York and Chicago.
U.S. District Court Southern District of New York Case number 1:16-CV-00141-KPF