Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Files Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Against The Cooper Companies, Inc.

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the stock of The Cooper Companies, Inc. (“Cooper” or the “Company”) (NYSE: COO) between March 4, 2011 and November 15, 2011, inclusive (the “Class Period”) alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Complaint”).  The case is entitled Wallen v. The Cooper Companies, Inc., Case No. C-11-6214-WHA (N.D. Cal.).

Cooper, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products serving the vision care and women’s healthcare markets worldwide.

The Complaint asserts that Cooper and several of its key executives violated the federal securities laws with regard to the issuance of materially false and misleading public statements concerning the Company’s quality control, defects in its manufacturing processes, business fundamentals and financial guidance during the Class Period.

In late 2009, the Company moved its contact lens manufacturing facilities from Norfolk, Virginia to new manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom to cut costs.  Throughout the Class Period, defendants reassured investors that the quality of its product offerings remained high.  As a consequence of the cost savings achieved by the move, among other things, defendants raised Cooper’s earnings guidance three times during the Class Period.  This, in turn, caused the Company’s stock price to climb above $84 per share by September 2011.

In August 2011, the Company announced a “limited voluntary” recall of its Avaira Toric line of contact lenses which were manufactured in Puerto Rico.  Defendants reported that the limited recall was caused by “a small number” of users that had complained of “temporary hazy vision.”

In October 2011, however, the United States Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) issued a Class I warning, calling for the Company to issue full notice to the public of the reasons for the recall of nearly 780,000 of its Avaira Tonic lenses.

On November 15, 2011, the Company finally disclosed that was expanding the recall to include nearly five million Avaira Sphere lenses that had already shipped.  Cooper also disclosed that it reserved more than $23 million for recall related liabilities.  As a consequence, the price of Cooper’s common stock price fell from a closing price of $64.95 per share on November 14, 2011, the day prior to the disclosure of the expanded recall, to a close of $56.64 per share on November 15, 2011, the day of the announcement on extremely heavy trading volume.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 27, 2012.  A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.  In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member’s claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class.  Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.  Any member of the proposed class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., with offices in Wilmington, Delaware and Garden City, New York, regularly litigates securities class, derivative and direct actions, shareholder rights litigation and corporate governance litigation, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty and proxy violations in the Delaware Court of Chancery and in state and federal courts throughout the United States.

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