A U.S. District Court judge in Camden, N.J., dismissed a consolidated securities class-action lawsuit against Campbell Soup Co. led by the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension & Retirement System, Oklahoma City.
The lawsuit, a consolidation in April 2019 from three separate lawsuits that assigned the $2.9 billion pension fund as lead plaintiff, alleged the company and certain top executives misled investors regarding the success of a new fresh foods division.
Judge Noel L. Hillman granted the defendants' motion to dismiss in a Nov. 30 decision with leave to amend, according to a court filing.
The lawsuit had sought damages for investors who had purchased Campbell Soup common stock from July 19, 2017, through May 17, 2018. The claims centered on the company's public statements about its fresh foods division called "C-Fresh," and its acquisitions of fresh food producer Bolthouse Farms and other companies, and that the statements were misleading regarding the success of the division, which actually lost money and negatively affected Campbell Soup's stock price.
In his decision, Mr. Hillman said plaintiffs failed to state a claim for violation of the company's fiduciary duties.
Officials at Oklahoma Firefighters could not be immediately reached for comment. Campbell Soup spokesman Thomas Hushen declined to comment.
