KSF News, Updates, & Insights

KSF Defeats Motion to Dismiss in Velodyne Securities Litigation

On July 1, 2022, the Hon. Susan Illston, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, entered an Order partially denying Defendants’ motion to dismiss Lead Plaintiffs’ securities fraud complaint against corporate Defendant Velodyne Lidar, Inc. and individual Defendants Anand Gopalan, James Graf, and Michael Dee. This matter, in which Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC serves as sole Lead Counsel, alleges that Defendants Velodyne, Gopalan, and Dee made, inter alia, materially false and misleading statements regarding company founder David Hall’s post-merger role in the continuing company, and further failed to disclose to investors that the company audit committee was investigating Mr. Hall until it abruptly announced his removal as Chairman of the Board on February 22, 2021. In her Order, Judge Illston found that “[t]he complaint adequately alleges that defendants Velodyne, Gopalan, and Dee intentionally touted Hall’s continued involvement in Velodyne throughout the Class Period while taking actions that ‘directly contradict[ed]’ the notion that Hall maintained a key leadership role.” Judge Illston further found that the complaint “also adequately alleges a violation of Section 20(a) against Gopalan, Dee, and Graf as control persons of Velodyne.” This matter is now in discovery.