NEW YORK, May 14, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Abbey Gardy, LLP commenced a Class Action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon behalf of a class (the "Class") of all persons who purchased securities of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. ("Electro " or the "Company") (Nasdaq:ESIOE) between September 17, 2002 and April 15, 2003 inclusive (the "Class Period").
The Complaint names as defendants Electro, David Bolender, James T. Dooley and Joseph Reinhart. The Complaint alleges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market during the Class Period thereby artificially inflating the price of Electro securities.
The Complaint alleges that these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: that Electro had reported artificially inflated financial results for the quarters ended August 31, 2002 and November 30, 2002; that Electro was improperly accounting for sales, thereby overstating its sales figures and was understating the cost of sales, in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and its own revenue recognition policies; and that Electro lacked adequate internal controls and was therefore unable to ascertain the true financial condition of the Company. As a result of the foregoing, the Electro financial statements published during the Class Period did not contain "all adjustments ... necessary for a fair presentation" of its financial position.
On March 20, 2003, after the close of the market, Electro issued a press release, announcing that it would be restating its financial statements for the first and second fiscal quarters. In response to this announcement, the price of Electro common stock fell from $15.17 per share to $12.51 per share, a one-day decline of over 17%.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all those who purchased or otherwise acquired Electro securities during the Class Period. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Electro securities during the Class Period, and either lost money on the transaction or still hold the securities, you may wish to join in the action to serve as lead plaintiff. If you purchased Electro securities during the Class Period, you may, no later than May 27, 2003 request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff.
A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts 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. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiffs." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.
Abbey Gardy, LLP has been retained as one of the law firms to represent the Class. The attorneys at Abbey Gardy, LLP have extensive experience in securities class action cases, and have played lead roles in major cases resulting in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars to investors. If you would like to discuss this action or if you have any questions concerning this Notice or your rights as a potential class member or lead plaintiff, you may contact Damon Williams or Nancy Kaboolian Esq. of Abbey Gardy, LLP at (212) 889-3700 or 800-889-3701. Or e-mail us at dwilliams@abbeygardy.com or nkaboolian@abbeygardy.com
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca