Labaton Keller Sucharow filed a complaint on behalf of lead plaintiffs in a securities action against Vocera Communications, Inc. (Vocera). On November 7, 2013, Labaton Keller Sucharow was appointed lead counsel. The complaint alleges that Vocera made a series of false and misleading statements regarding the extent of the impact that healthcare reform was having on sales to non-government hospitals, and that the company failed to timely disclose the effect that the federal budget sequestration was having on the closing of sales to government hospitals.
During the investigation, the Firm's investigative team interviewed a former Vocera employee, who provided internal Vocera documents to the investigator. On July 30, 2014, the court granted, in part, plaintiff's motion to limit the scope of confidentiality agreements signed by former Vocera employees. Specifically, the court granted plaintiffs permission to use of the documents, subject to claims of privilege and a protective order. This was a significant victory for plaintiffs.
On January 15, 2015, the court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss the Exchange Act claims and granted to motion to dismiss Securities Act claims with leave to amend these claims. On July 29, 2016, a $9 million settlement received final court approval. The claim deadline was July 18, 2016.
The case is In re Vocera Communications, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 13-cv-3567 (N.D. Cal.). Labaton Keller Sucharow represents lead plaintiffs Arkansas Teacher Retirement System and Baltimore County Retirement System. The defendant is Vocera Communications, Inc.
Background
Vocera provides mobile communications software and hardware to healthcare and non-healthcare markets. Sales to the healthcare market accounted for 92 percent of the company's revenue for the full year of 2012. The company held its IPO on March 28, 2012, selling more than $5 million shares and raising approximately $80 million in gross proceeds. In connection with the IPO, Vocera filed offering documents with the SEC that included optimistic statements about the company's future prospects in the face of healthcare reform.
However, only six weeks after affirming that it was on track to meet projected earnings despite uncertainty related to healthcare reform and sequestration, the company announced disappointing results, blaming those very circumstances. On May 2, 2013, Vocera announced disappointing results for Q1 2013, missing its prior earnings and revenue guidance. The company also sharply reduced its previously stated revenue guidance for the full year of 2013. On this news, Vocera's stock price dropped $7.23 per share, or 37.31 percent, to close at $12.15 per share-nearly $4.00 per share below the IPO offering price.
If you have questions about the settlement, please contact Labaton Keller Sucharow at settlementquestions@labaton.com or 1-888-219-6877, or contact the Claims Administrator, GCG, at 1-800-231-1815.
