Case Caption: In re Stitchting Pensioenfonds Metaal En Techniek, et al. v. Verizon Communications Inc., et al.
Court: United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
Case Number: 3:23-cv-05218-ESK-AMD
Judge: Honorable Edward S. Kiel
Plaintiff: Stichting Pensioenfonds Metaal en Techniek, Stichting PME Pensioenfonds, Stichting Mn Services Aandelenfonds Noord-Amerika, AkademikerPension, Lannebo Kapitalförvaltning AB, and Storebrand Asset Management AS
Defendant: Verizon Communications Inc., Hans Vestberg, Matthew Ellis, Kyle Malady, James Gowen, Anthony Skiadas
Class Period: March 18, 2019 to July 26, 2023, inclusive
This securities fraud class action arises out of representations and omissions made by Verizon Communications Inc. (“Verizon” or “the Company”) and its senior executives concerning material risks facing the Company due to its ownership of toxic lead-sheathed cables.
Verizon is one of the largest telecommunications providers in the world. For decades, largely outside the public view, Verizon has owned a massive, decaying web of cables sheathed with lead, a toxic contaminant that is closely regulated as it presents significant health and environmental protection risks. As Lead Plaintiffs allege, Verizon has abandoned many of these lead-sheathed cables in place while transitioning its service lines to fiber optics. Verizon has known of the risks associated with its decaying lead network for years, and throughout the Class Period, faced mounting evidence that its lead-sheathed cables were harming its employees and the public, and that the true extent of its sprawling lead-sheathed cable network and related potential financial liabilities would be revealed. Despite this reality, Defendants misled investors about the enormous risks associated with Verizon’s lead-sheathed cabling network.
Investors learned the true extent of Verizon’s lead-sheathed cable problem through a series of investigative reports published by The Wall Street Journal (“WSJ”) in July 2023. The WSJ revealed to investors, among other things: (i) that the Company owned likely thousands of miles of abandoned lead-sheathed cables spanning the Northeast United States; (ii) that environmental testing revealed that lead was leaching into the environment at these sites; and (iii) that former lineworkers who were exposed to lead cables were now suffering from lead toxicity. In response to the WSJ’s reporting, Verizon’s stock fell dramatically, wiping out billions in market capitalization.
On April 21, 2025, Lead Plaintiffs filed the operative complaint on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging that Defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.