U.S. judge says Wal-Mart should face lawsuit over alleged Mexico bribery
Source: Reuters
U.S. judge says Wal-Mart should face lawsuit over alleged Mexico bribery
BY JONATHAN STEMPEL
Fri May 9, 2014 2:50pm EDT
(Reuters) - A U.S. judge said Wal-Mart Stores Inc does not deserve dismissal of a lawsuit claiming it defrauded shareholders by concealing suspected corruption at its Mexico operations, even after learning that a damaging media report detailing alleged bribery was being prepared.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Setser in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Thursday recommended denying Wal-Mart's request to dismiss the lawsuit led by a Michigan pension fund against the world's largest retailer and former Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company disagrees with Setser's recommendation, which is subject to review by U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey. District judges are not bound by magistrate judges' recommendations but often follow them.
Wal-Mart's stock price, which is not known as particularly volatile, fell 8.2 percent in the three days after The New York Times reported on its investigation into the alleged bribery on April 22, 2012. That decline wiped out roughly $17 billion of market value. The Times' coverage later won a Pulitzer Prize.
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