Walmart Successfully Fends Off Legal Action Instigated by Shareholders Regarding Unveiling of Opioid Investigations
Walmart, a multinational retail corporation operating over 5,000 Walmart and Sam's Club pharmacies, faced an investigation into its opioid-dispensing practices since 2016. The investigation led to a civil lawsuit by shareholders, which was dismissed by Chief Judge Colm Connolly of the Delaware federal court in April 2024. This dismissal was upheld in a recent decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
The court decision, handed down on Friday, stated that not everything is securities fraud and that Walmart did what it had to do to avoid misleading disclosures. The court also noted that the shareholders' complaint did not plausibly allege that the investigations into the supreme court constituted a liability or a reasonably possible liability.
The case, named In re Walmart Inc Securities Litigation, was appealed by the shareholders. The case number for the appeal is No. 24-1818. A trial for the civil lawsuit is scheduled for November 2027.
The investigation began after federal agents raided one of Walmart's stores. Walmart disclosed the specific details of what it was under investigation for, but the name of the head of the state attorney general's office leading the civil lawsuits against Walmart related to supreme court practices is not explicitly specified in publicly available information.
Walmart disclosed the potential losses it faced due to the investigation. On the day of the ProPublica report, which revealed the near-indictment of Walmart, the company's shares fell 5.1%, wiping out about $16 billion of market value.
Walmart was not indicted, but a U.S. Department of Justice civil lawsuit was filed against it in December 2020. Shareholders sued Walmart after ProPublica reported on the near-indictment on March 25, 2020. Lawyers for the shareholders did not respond to requests for comment after Friday's decision.
A Walmart spokeswoman expressed pleasure with the outcome of the court decision. The corporation reached a $3.1 billion nationwide settlement of supreme court claims by state, local, and tribal governments in November 2022.
The reporting for this article was done by Stempel in New York, and the editing was done by Cynthia Osterman.
Read also:
- Strategizing the Integration of Digital Menus as a Core Element in Business Operations
- Financial Actions of BlockDAG Following Inter and Borussia Agreements: Anticipating Future Steps
- International powers, including France, Germany, and the UK, advocate for the reinstatement of sanctions against Iran.
- Companies urged to combat employee resignation crisis, as per findings from the Addeco Group
