Avon Gets Suit Over China Bribery Probe Statements Tossed
Admin | 30 September, 2014 | 768 | 3980
Avon Products Inc. (AVP:US), the world’s largest door-to-door seller of cosmetics, won dismissal of an investor suit which accused executives of making false statements about a U.S. probe of possible bribery in China.
U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan today granted Avon’s request to toss the lawsuit filed in 2011 and alleging that statements in Avon’s Ethics Code and Corporate Responsibility and in company codes of conduct “were materially false and misleading.” He granted the plaintiffs permission to re-file an amended lawsuit.
Statements which the the investors claimed were false in Avon’s filings with U.S. regulators and other documents weren’t material, Gardephe said. A reasonable investor wouldn’t think they suggest Avon’s compliance systems give the company a competitive advantage over other companies, he said.