Uber, Kalanick defeat lawsuit by investors who blamed scandals for losses

Uber Technologies and its former Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick defeated a lawsuit claiming the company swept illicit business practices under the rug that cost investors billions of dollars.

 

US District Judge Haywood S Gilliam Jr in Oakland, California, on Friday agreed with Uber’s and Kalanick’s bid to toss the class-action claims by a Texas city’s firefighter pension fund while allowing the fund to revise and refile the complaint.

 

The lawsuit "does not specifically tie any particular misrepresentation by defendants to a decline in Uber’s stock price," Gilliam wrote in his ruling. Instead it "lumps together" scandals and asserts a “vague and attenuated connection” to the devaluation of Uber’s stock, he said.

 

The Irving, Texas-based fund alleged in its September 2017 complaint that the startup and its ex-CEO failed to reveal at least six instances of malfeasance while “successfully soliciting billions of dollars in private investment.” Kalanick was ousted as CEO in June 2017 after a series of allegations that the ride-hailing company had engaged in misconduct.