Oklahoma City, OK (March 6, 2018) – On February 9, 2018, a securities class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia against Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL). The complaint alleges violations of federal securities laws, Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, including allegations of issuing a series of material or false misrepresentations to the market which had the effect of artificially inflating the market price during the Class Period, which is February 27, 2013 through January 11, 2018. More specifically, this litigation was filed because defendants’ failure to disclose during the Class Period that Aflac hired its sales associates under false promises of high compensation packages and work-life-balance, that Aflac misclassified its employees as independent contractors to reduce costs associated with unemployment insurance taxes and employment benefits, that Aflac manipulated its average weekly producer equivalent metric to fabricate growth, and that Aflac violated its Code of Conduct and corporate social responsibility standards.
On January 11, 2018, post-market, The Intercept published an article entitled “Behind the Duck: Former Aflac Employees Allege Fraud and Abuse in Nearly Every Aspect of Company.” Citing “interviews with multiple current and former employees, as well as three previously unreported lawsuits,” the article reported that “Aflac has exploited workers, manipulated its accounting, and deceived shareholders and customers.” Among other issues, the article described “employees under pressure to meet sales goals selling policies without customer authorization or consent, illegally ‘bundling’ policies, and issuing others to ineligible customers”; the Company’s “[m]assaging of key operational metrics to prove company growth to investors”; “[e]arnings statement manipulation, by moving sales earned in certain weeks into different quarters to hit numbers”; and “[r]etaliation against whistleblowers”. On this news, Aflac’s share price has fallen sharply during intra-day trading on January 12, 2018.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all Aflac Incorporated shareholders who purchased common stock during the Class Period and are therefore a member of the Class as described above. You may move the Court no later than Monday, April 16, 2018 to serve as a lead plaintiff for the entire Class. However, in order to do so, you must meet certain legal requirements pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
To join this class action, click here to obtain an investor certification. Once complete, please email this form to rkh@federmanlaw.com, fax to us at (405) 239-2112 or send by regular mail to Federman & Sherwood, 10205 North Pennsylvania Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73120, ATTN: Robin.