ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Legal Newsline) - Securities class action lawyers have reached an agreement on who will lead litigation against Boeing over financial problems caused by recent failures of its 737 Max planes.
Competing motions for appointment of lead plaintiff and lead counsel were filed by heavyweights Labaton Keller Sucharow and Robbins Geller. Their April 15 notice to a Virginia federal judge says they will lead the case together.
Their clients feel it is "in the best interests of the Class to jointly prosecute this Action."
Labaton and Cohen Milstein, which would be liaison counsel for the class, filed their case on behalf of the State of Rhode Island. Robbins Geller represents the Local #817 IBT Pension Fund.
Boeing and executives are the defendants in the case. It alleges violations of federal securities laws and is brought on behalf of all entities that purchased or acquired Boeing common stock between October 23, 2019 and January 24, 2024.
The plaintiffs accuse Boeing of outsourcing the production and assembly of its airplane components to third-party suppliers to cut costs and production time, thereby compromising safety standards. This practice allegedly led to two fatal crashes involving Boeing's 737 MAX 8 planes due to design flaws in the flight control software.
The case also alleges that despite promising enhanced focus on safety following these disasters, Boeing failed to uphold adequate quality control standards. The company had previously entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S Department of Justice in January 2021 related to these incidents.