Court rules for investors in Volkswagen diesel suit
Featured Articles
A court in Germany has ruled that Volkswagen's parent company must pay 47 million euros ($54 million) in damages to investors for not making a timely disclosure of its scandal over cars rigged to cheat on diesel emissions tests.
The dpa news agency reported that the Stuttgart court announced the verdict Wednesday against Porsche SE, which holds 52 percent of the voting rights in Volkswagen.
The company said it would appeal and called the claims "without merit."
News of the scandal broke in September 2015 but the plaintiffs argued that Volkswagen's top management knew about the troubles earlier. Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn exercised his legal right not to testify.
The case comes in addition to investor suits against Porsche SE and Volkswagen before a court in Braunschweig, Germany. Porsche said it was "convinced that the rulings will not be sustained in a second-instance ruling."
Porsche said higher courts had ruled that the Stuttgart court should have decided the case by its full chamber, not by a single judge. It cited what it said were existing rulings by other courts that proceedings should be stayed while a so-called model case is pending before the Braunschweig court to prevent conflicting decisions on the same issues. Porsche said that the actions "are without merit and the claims raised do not exist."
German securities law requires companies to disclose information that could significantly affect the stock price so that investors can decide whether or not to sell their holdings.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation on Sept. 18, 2015, saying Volkswagen had installed software that turned emissions controls on during testing and off during every day driving. Volkswagen has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the United States and incurred more than 28 billion euros ($32 billion) in fines and penalties. Winterkorn and several other Volkswagen executives serving at the time face criminal charges in the U.S. but cannot be extradited; two Volkswagen executives were sent to prison.
Related listings
-
Supreme Court wrestles with case on detention of immigrants
Featured Articles 10/11/2018The Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with a case about the government’s ability to detain certain immigrants after they’ve served sentences for committing crimes in the United States. Several justices expressed concerns with the governmen...
-
Indian court gives life sentence to guru, 14 followers
Featured Articles 10/10/2018A court in northern India sentenced a Hindu guru and 14 followers to life imprisonment on Tuesday in the deaths of four women and a child at his sprawling ashram.The court ordered the penalty for Sant Rampal in Hisar city in Haryana state, where auth...
-
Trump picks combat over caution in court fight
Featured Articles 09/22/2018White House aides and congressional allies worked all week to keep President Donald Trump from unloading on the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.But as Kavanaugh's nomination hung in the balance, Trump ...
USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019
On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.
For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.
Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.
USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.