Paul, Weiss is widely recognized as having one of the nation’s preeminent securities litigation and regulatory practices. For two decades, our lawyers have guided global corporations and financial institutions through a series of “bet-the-company” securities-related crises, consistently reducing or eliminating their most damaging claims and negotiating favorable resolutions.
Paul, Weiss Wins Dismissal of Securities Claims Against CBS Lead Independent Director Arising From Former CEO’s Alleged Sexual Misconduct
- Client News
- January 15, 2020
Practices
Paul, Weiss secured a major victory for Bruce Gordon, the former lead independent director of the board of CBS Corporation, in a putative securities class action arising from former CEO and Chairman Leslie Moonves’ and others’ sexual misconduct. In their complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, shareholders alleged Moonves concealed his own and others’ conduct and fostered a hostile workplace, and that he, other current and former executives, and board members all failed to disclose the risk that journalists would expose this misconduct and force Moonves out, resulting in a decline in the company’s share value.
In her 48-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni dismissed all claims against Gordon, finding that the complaint failed to plead multiple elements against him, including a material misrepresentation or omission and scienter. Among other things, Judge Caproni agreed with Paul, Weiss that Gordon’s alleged conduct undercut, rather than supported, claims of securities fraud, including that Gordon and other directors were alleged to have promptly initiated an investigation led by outside counsel after learning of rumors regarding Moonves’s conduct. The action now remains pending against only CBS and Moonves, with claims surviving with respect to only a single allegation in a single paragraph of the complaint.
The Paul, Weiss team includes litigation partners Ted Wells, Dan Kramer, Dave Brown and Audra Soloway.