Robbins
Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”) (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/ecotality/)
today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United
States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf
of purchasers of ECOtality, Inc. (“ECOtality”) (NASDAQ:ECTY) common
stock during the period between April 16, 2013 and August 9, 2013 (the
“Class Period”).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later
than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any
questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please
contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel
H. Rudman or David
A. Rosenfeld of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or
via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. If
you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as
filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/ecotality/.
Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead
plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing
and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges ECOtality and certain of its officers and
directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
ECOtality is an electric transportation and storage technologies company
that sells electric vehicle (“EV”) supply equipment (or “EVSE”) through
its customer-facing brand of smart EV chargers, Blink.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued
false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business and
future prospects. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants
concealed the following material adverse facts from the investing public
during the Class Period: (a) due to design and manufacturing defects,
some of ECOtality’s charging systems had been causing overheating and
even the melting of connector plugs when charging vehicles; (b) despite
efforts undertaken to transition the Company’s business model from
subsidizing installations of EVSEs under the Department of Energy’s
(“DOE”) EV Project to regular commercial sales and installations,
ECOtality was not achieving enough commercial sales and installations to
sustain operations in the second half of 2013; (c) due to “unacceptable
performance shortfalls during prototype verification testing,” ECOtality
was not on track to meet the scheduled release of a new Minit Charger
product for industrial customers in the second half of 2013; (d) due to
would-be potential investors’ unwillingness to provide additionally
needed financing, ECOtality was unable to obtain the requisite financing
to meet its short-term and long-term capital needs and would be unable
to meet its obligations to the DOE’s EV Project and the DOE would
suspend all payments to the Company; and (e) due to non-compliance with
the nation’s labor laws, the Company was liable to the U.S. Department
of Labor for $855,000 for the payment of back wages and damages.
On August 12, 2013, before the opening of trading, ECOtality announced
that the Company had hired a “restructuring” adviser to evaluate
options, including new financing, a possible sale of the Company or
bankruptcy filing. The Company’s Current Report filed with the SEC on
Form 8-K that day emphasized, in pertinent part, that a bankruptcy
filing could be made “in the very near future” following, among other
things, disappointing sales and suspension of payments from the federal
government. On this news, the price of ECOtality common stock, which had
traded as high as $2.40 per share in intraday trading during the Class
Period, plummeted more than 87% from that level to close at $0.30 per
share when trading resumed on August 12, 2013.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of
ECOtality common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The
plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has expertise in
prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions
involving financial fraud.
Robbins Geller represents U.S. and international institutional investors
in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. With nearly
200 lawyers in nine offices, the firm represents hundreds of public and
multi-employer pension funds with combined assets under management in
excess of $2 trillion. The firm has obtained many of the largest
recoveries and has been ranked number one in the number of shareholder
class action recoveries in MSCI’s Top SCAS 50 every year since
2003. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com
for more information.
Copyright Business Wire 2013