Councils pension fund settles Under Armour legal claim – BBC.com

Lawyers for pension funds representing workers at three Scottish local authorities have won a $434 million settlement from US sportswear maker Under Armour.

The North East Scotland Pension Fund (NESPF) administers the scheme for 71,000 workers, including Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray Council staff.

The fund invested millions of pounds in Under Armour shares but accused the company of making false statements about its products.

The settlement was filed just weeks before a jury trial is due to begin in the United States and is pending court approval.

NESPF is acting as lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against Under Armour.

A class action lawsuit is a type of lawsuit in which a single plaintiff files a lawsuit on behalf of a large group of people who have suffered similar losses.

The case was handled by the US law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.

Mark Solomon, a partner at the firm and counsel to the lead plaintiffs of NESPF, said:

“This is an important win for investors and sends a strong message to directors and officers of public companies.

“Government enforcement actions to date have resulted in penalties of just $9 million. The recovery of almost 50 times that amount highlights the important role pension funds can play in holding companies accountable.”

The company’s settlement announcement also included comments on behalf of the funds.

The company said: “We are pleased to have been able to help secure this exceptional outcome. We decided that leading the litigation and holding defendants to account was the appropriate exercise of our role as managers and welcomed the opportunity to do so.”

BBC News has contacted the foundation for further comment.

Under Armour is based in Baltimore, Maryland and was founded in 1996 by former college football player Kevin Plank.

The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and has a market capitalization of $3 billion (£4.74 billion).

In a statement on its website, the company has always denied the allegations and said it had “reached this agreement in principle and without any admission or finding of negligence or wrongdoing, given the costs and risks associated with litigation.”

The statement confirmed that the company will pay $434 million to settle lawsuits brought on behalf of people who purchased the company’s publicly traded shares between Sept. 16, 2015 and Nov. 1, 2019.

If the court approves the settlement, it “will resolve all claims against Under Armour and the other defendants in this case.”

“We believe our sales practices, accounting practices and disclosures were appropriate and we deny any wrongdoing in this matter,” Mehri Shadman, the company’s chief legal officer and corporate secretary, said in a statement.

“Today’s announcement allows us to move beyond this issue that has been ongoing for more than seven years, avoids the ongoing disruption caused by litigation, and provides certainty to our business as we execute on our key strategic priorities.”