Among the significant constraints in the current business and financial environment is the continuing disruption of corporate supply chains. The disruption is a side-effect of the pandemic that has been exacerbated by weather events and other developments. I have been concerned that supply-chain disruption could not only interfere with ongoing business operations but could, for companies experiencing significant setbacks, lead to D&O claims, including securities class action lawsuits. There have in fact been prior securities suits filed this year arising out of supply chain issues.
The latest securities suit to reflect this phenomenon is the securities class action lawsuit filed on December 14, 2021 against bed and mattress manufacturer Sleep Number Corporation, whose supply sources for mattress foam was disrupted by the Texas winter storms earlier this year. This latest lawsuit illustrates how supply chain issues can translate into D&O claims. As discussed below, this new lawsuit raises a number of interesting questions about possible future claims.
Continue Reading Supply Chain Disruption Leads to Securities Suit Against Mattress Manufacturer
As I have noted in prior posts (most recently 
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With the passage of time, the impact of the pandemic on business and commerce has evolved, both at the level of the economy as a whole and at the company-specific level. Companies that suffered early in the outbreak are now returning to form, while companies that prospered due to pandemic-related conditions are now returning to earth. One company that unquestionably flourished at the outbreak of the pandemic is home exercise equipment company, Peloton Interactive. The company’s share price has recently declined as the company has experienced declining demand for its products and services. A new COVID-related securities lawsuit has now been filed against the company, based on allegations pertaining to the company’s alleged misrepresentations about the company’s ability to sustain its pandemic-related sales boost. A copy of the November 18, 2021 related securities suit can be found 
Just as the coronavirus pandemic itself continues to disrupt economic and social activity, it also continues to generate COVID-related securities class action litigation. In the latest COVID-related securities suit, the vaccine development firm Novavax has been hit with a securities suit pertaining to delays the company has experienced regarding its coronavirus vaccine candidate. As discussed below, this latest lawsuit shares a number of features with other previously filed coronavirus-related securities suit. The November 12, 2021 complaint in the new Novavax lawsuit can be found 
An online event firm that experienced a ramp-up in users during the pandemic and that completed an IPO in early in February 2021 has been hit with a securities class action lawsuit after the company disclosed that many of the customers that signed on during the early days of the pandemic did not renew or renewed only at lower service levels. This new lawsuit is the latest of example of the ways that more than a year and half in the pandemic continues to affect businesses and continues to lead to securities class action litigation and other D&O claims. The November 3, 2021 complaint filed against ON24 can be found 
As readers know, there has been a wave of business interruption coverage insurance disputes arising out the pandemic. But the business interruption claims are not the only insurance coverage disputes the coronavirus outbreak has caused. An interesting recent D&O insurance-related coverage dispute involves the denial by a D&O insurer of coverage for lawsuits a health industry technology trade association faced following the March 2020 coronavirus outbreak-related cancellation of the association’s annual trade show.
In the latest dismissal motion ruling in a COVID-19-related securities class action lawsuit, the federal judge presiding over the securities suit filed against private prison company The GEO Group has granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss with respect to the plaintiff’s coronavirus-related allegations, while denying the motion with respect to certain of the plaintiff’s allegations unrelated to COVID-19. A copy of the court’s September 23, 2021 order can be found 
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Every year after Labor Day, I take a step back and survey the most important current trends and developments in the world of Directors’ and Officers’ liability and insurance. This year’s review is set out below. As the following discussion shows, this is a particularly eventful time in the world of D&O.