An interesting shareholder derivative suit was filed on November 30, 2020 in the Northern District of California against Pinterest, Inc. Pinterest, a visual discovery engine popular for collecting ideas for weddings and aggregating recipes, went public in April 2019. The complaint alleges that Pinterest executives “breached their fiduciary duties to the [c]ompany by perpetrating or knowingly ignoring the long-standing and systemic culture of discrimination and retaliation at Pinterest.” Pinterest allegedly payed unequal salaries to women and racial minorities while denying multiple women opportunities commensurate with their job titles and level of experience.
Fiduciary Duty
Second Circuit Upholds Insider-Trading Conviction and Clarifies Scope of Requisite Fiduciary Relationship
By Jonathan Richman on
The Second Circuit yesterday affirmed the insider-trading conviction of a doctor who, in breach of a confidentiality agreement, had traded on nonpublic information about a drug trial in which he had been participating. The decision in United States v. Kosinski (2d Cir. Sept. 22, 2020) held that:
- A person can
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Second Circuit: Intent to Harm Is Not Required for Criminal Conviction Under Investment Advisers Act
By Jonathan Richman & Rachel Wolkinson on
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday affirmed the fraud conviction of a registered investment adviser and held that proof of intent to harm is not an element of a criminal conviction under section 206 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. §80b-6 (“IAA”). The court’s decision in U.S. v. Tagliaferri, No. 15-536 (2d Cir. May 4, 2016), distinguished between willfulness – the defendant’s knowledge that his or her conduct was unlawful – and intent to harm the victim of the crime.