In re The Boeing Company Securities Litigation

Labaton Keller Sucharow serves as co-lead counsel in a securities class action against The Boeing Company (Boeing or the Company) (NYSE: BA) and certain Boeing officers (collectively, Defendants).

On January 30, 2024, Labaton Keller Sucharow filed a securities class action lawsuit on behalf of the Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island asserting claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Boeing common stock between October 23, 2019, and January 24, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period).

Boeing, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is one of the largest aerospace companies in the world.  Its Commercial Airplanes Segment is a leading producer of commercial aircraft and offers a family of commercial jetliners including its 737 MAX.  

In October 2018 and March 2019, two Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes were involved in fatal crashes caused by malfunctions due to design flaws in the 737 MAX’s flight control software, resulting in the deaths of 346 people and leading to 737 MAX planes being grounded from March 2019 to December 2020.  

On January 5, 2024, a “door plug” flew out of the side of a 737 MAX 9, leaving a gaping hole in the plane’s main cabin.  Investigations into the incident led to the discovery of problems with such door plugs on other 737 MAX planes, including loose bolts holding the door plugs in place, further revealing the Company’s manufacturing and production missteps and leading to the grounding of many 737 MAX 9 planes.

Defendants are accused of failing to disclose that, throughout the Class Period, Boeing had been prioritizing its profits over safety, which led to poor quality control standards in the production of its commercial aircrafts such as the 737 MAX, resulting in a heightened risk of manufacturing flaws that could render the Company’s new airplanes unsafe.

On April 22, 2024, the court appointed Labaton Keller Sucharow as co-lead counsel and the Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island and Local #817 IBT Pension Fund as lead plaintiffs.

At the September 6, 2024 hearing concerning Boeing’s motion to dismiss, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia stated that “the complaint speaks for itself” with  “extensive amount of detail,” and “records and relates tons of information that supports the claim at this point that there has been material misstatements made to the investing public, that there is definitely a sufficient nexus with the damages, and that [there] is a strong inference of scienter here.”  The lawsuit is now proceeding into discovery.

The case is In re The Boeing Company Securities Litigation, Case No. 1:24-cv-151-LMB-LRV (E.D. Va.).  Labaton Keller Sucharow represents the Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island.