Lit Alerts — September 2023

Securities Litigation: Amended Claims Are Timely if Original Complaint Filed Within Statute of Repose

In 2018, Patrick Hogan brought a putative securities-fraud class action against Pilgrim's Pride Corp., a poultry producer, alleging violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado dismissed his complaint in 2018, and Hogan filed an amended complaint nearly two years later, in 2020. He did not add any new parties or causes of action, nor did he allege any additional "false or misleading" statements. The amended complaint bolstered the original claims through additional factual allegations. The district court dismissed the amended complaint as untimely under the five-year statute of repose in 28 U.S.C. § 1658(b)(2), which requires a claim alleging a securities violation be filed within five years of the violation. All alleged misrepresentations occurred more than five years