Shareholders Drop Suit Against Gerber
South Windsor, Conn.–based Gerber Scientific, Inc., parent company of apparel technology provider Gerber Technology, said that a series of class-action lawsuits filed against the company in April and consolidated into one case in June has been dismissed by the plaintiffs.
Gerber cited the dismissals in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The company said no payments have been made or are to be made to any of the parties and that the dismissal “does not constitute any admissionhellip;by any party” with respect to the allegations asserted. Gerber said the dismissal is without prejudice, and it is possible these claims could be refiled in the future.
Shareholders brought the action earlier this year when Gerber stated that it would have to take a $12 million charge for inventory write-downs and restate earnings for its 2001 fiscal year. Accounting procedures associated with these actions prompted an investigation by Securities & Exchange Commission officials. Consequently, Gerber’s stock price plummeted, and the company drew several class-action filings.
Aside from marketing cutting-room machinery and software for the sewn-products industry, Gerber operates sign-making, opticallens- processing and packaging and commercial- printing businesses. —Robert McAllister
