In re The Hain Celestial Group Inc. Securities Litigation

On June 5, 2017, Labaton Keller Sucharow was appointed co-lead counsel in this securities fraud class action against Hain Celestial Group, Inc. on behalf of all purchasers of Hain Celestial Group, Inc. securities from November 5, 2015, through August 16, 2016.  Hain Celestial Group, Inc. manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells organic and natural products.  The company sells its products through specialty and natural food distributors, supermarkets, natural food stores, mass-market and e-commerce retailers, food service channels and club, and drug and convenience stores in approximately 70 countries worldwide.

The lead plaintiff alleges that the defendants made materially misleading statements and omissions by failing to disclose that (1) the company was improperly recognizing customer concessions as revenues, (2) the company’s financial results were materially false and misleading in violation of generally accepted accounting practices, (3) the company’s internal controls were materially inadequate such that its reported results were not reliable, and (4) as a result, the company was not on track to achieve the financial results it stated it was on track to achieve.

Lead plaintiffs filed a second amended class action complaint on May 6, 2019, which the defendants moved to dismiss on June 20, 2019.  

The case is In re The Hain Celestial Group Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 16-cv-04581 (E.D.N.Y.).  Labaton Keller Sucharow represents co-lead plaintiffs Rosewood Funeral Home and Salaman Gimpel.  The defendants are Hain Celestial Group, Inc., former President and CEO Irwin D. Simon, former CFO Pasquale Conte, Executive Vice President John Carroll, and former CFO Stephen J. Smith.