Ohio’s largest public pension fund has filed a lawsuit against Facebook following allegations the company misled the public and investors, according to AdvisorNews and the Associated Press.
The class-action suit was filed in federal court by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
It cites the claims of a former Facebook employee, who said the social media giant purposely misled the public about the risks its products posed to children. The lawsuit said the company did not take action to deal with these harmful effects, as well as the spread of extremist content and misinformation on its platforms.
Refusing to correct these issues and concealing its conduct led to artificially inflated prices for the company’s stock, according to the suit. Once the allegations became public, Yost said the Ohio pension fund and other investors suffered more than $100 billion in market losses.
The suit seeks to recover lost investment value, saying that federal securities laws were violated because Facebook knowingly made false statements about its products. A spokesperson for Facebook said the company would vigorously defend itself, and said the lawsuit was without merit.
Securities fraud takes on many forms. Investors incur losses when companies, corporate insiders, hedge funds, private placement issuers, financial advisors and other financial professionals make false or misleading statements or fail to disclose material information. If you think your financial professional or firm engaged in misconduct that caused you investment losses, contact Lewitas Hyman at (888) 655 6002 or through our online contact form for a no-cost evaluation of your matter.
