NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Lumen Technologies, Inc. (“Lumen” or the “Company”) f/k/a CenturyLink, Inc. (“CenturyLink”) (NYSE: LUMN) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division, and docketed under 23-cv-01290, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Lumen securities between March 11, 2019 and July 14, 2023, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Lumen securities during the Class Period, you have until November 14, 2023 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
Lumen is a telecommunications and technology company that provides various integrated products and services to businesses and residential customers in the United States and internationally. Lumen operates, inter alia, a copper cable network for certain of its telecommunications services. The Company was formerly known as “CenturyLink, Inc.” and changed its name to “Lumen Technologies, Inc.” in September 2020.
Lumen is a member of USTelecom, a broadband association that represents companies in the industry. Lumen is also one of multiple telecommunications companies that inherited the Bell Telephone Company’s (a/k/a “Ma Bell” or the “Bell System”) telecom cables in the decades following the breakup of the Bell System’s telecommunications monopoly in 1984.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Lumen owned and/or still owns thousands of miles of cables wrapped in lead, a known neurotoxin, within the United States; (ii) the foregoing has harmed and posed the risk of further harming the environment, exposed Company employees, and the general public, thereby posing a significant public health risk and environmental pollution risk; (iii) Lumen was on notice about the damage and risks presented by these lead-covered cables but did not disclose them as a potential threat to everyday people and communities, as well as failed to provide adequate lead training to employees; (iv) all the foregoing subjected the Company to a heightened risk of governmental and regulatory oversight and enforcement action, as well as legal and reputational harm; and (v) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On July 9, 2023, the Wall Street Journal (“WSJ”) published an article reporting that more than 2,000 lead-covered cables previously used by Ma Bell and, subsequently, by various successor telecommunication companies, were degrading and leaching into soil and groundwater, posing a significant public health risk.
On this news, Lumen’s stock price fell $0.13 per share, or 5.94%, to close at $2.06 per share on July 10, 2023.
On July 11, 2023, the WSJ published an article reporting that “[l]awmakers are demanding that telecom firms act to ensure that Americans are safe after [the WSJ’s] investigation revealed that phone companies have left behind a network of cables covered in toxic lead, tainting water and soil in some locations”. The article also cited legislators’ and regulators’ intentions to scrutinize lead cables owned by USTelecom members and to hold those members accountable.
On July 12, 2023, the WSJ published another article that detailed, inter alia, Lumen’s ownership of lead-covered cables previously owned by Ma Bell, as well as evidence suggesting that Lumen’s workers still faced exposure to lead in the modern era.
On this news, Lumen’s stock price fell $0.03 per share, or 1.45%, to close at $2.04 per share on July 12, 2023.
On July 14, 2023, Seeking Alpha reported that a J.P. Morgan analyst had concluded that “Lumen. . . likely . . . ha[s] ‘exposure’ to potential copper [cable] lead sheathing liability.”
On this news, Lumen’s stock price fell $0.21 per share, or 10.19%, to close at $1.85 per share on July 14, 2023.
Also on July 14, 2023, during post-market hours, the WSJ published article citing various analyst and market concerns related to, inter alia, Lumen’s exposure to enormous liabilities related to its lead-sheathed cables. In particular, the article noted that, after AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Lumen would have the most lead-covered cables to remove.
On this news, Lumen’s stock price fell $0.15 per share, or 8.11%, to close at $1.70 per share the next trading day on July 17, 2023.
Then, on August 1, 2023, on a quarterly earnings call, Lumen’s executive management addressed the recent reporting on the Company’s exposure to liability related to lead-sheathed cables, disclosing that, by Lumen’s own estimation, not more than 35,000 miles of its copper network could contain lead. In a response to an analyst’s inquiry regarding whether Defendants “had any discussions around remediation” for the lead-sheathed cable issue, Company management noted that Lumen had spent considerable time determining how much lead was in the Company’s telecom system and could not estimate potential remediation costs.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
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CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
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