Corporate America is cheering a recent victory by JDS Uniphase over aggrieved shareholders in a rare class-action securities lawsuit that actually went to trial—an outcome that may embolden other companies to fight class-action lawsuits as well.
The verdict was handed down Nov. 27 by a jury in federal district court in Oakland, Calif. Shareholders had been seeking $18 billion in damages from the company and four former executives. A maker of telecommunications equipment, JDS Uniphase had been one of the stars of the dot-com era, until the industry collapsed in 2001 and the stock cratered.
