While a federal judge in Virginia indicated that he wasn’t completely convinced that Volkswagen’s allegedly false announcement regarding a name change to “Voltswagen” to remain competitive in the electric vehicle industry was only an “April Fool’s joke gone wrong,” the judge dismissed Securities Exchange violations against the auto manufacturer based on a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
In the present case, the lead plaintiff, Laszlo Rozasavolgyi, alleged that Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA), as well as the company’s chief executive officer and president, Scott Keogh, and acting head of communications, Mark Gillies, collectively violated § 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5. The complaint also claims that Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG) and the individual defendants violated § 20(a) of the Exchange Act as control persons of VWGoA and are directly liable for the alleged actions taken by VWGoA in violation of § 10(b) and Rule 10(b)-5, according to the opinion.
