Chemours Complaint 3.23.20 Revised.Docx
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Case 1:19-cv-01911-CFC Document 30 Filed 04/03/20 Page 1 of 172 PageID #: 438 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE IN RE THE CHEMOURS COMPANY C.A. NO. 1:19-CV-01911-CFC SECURITIES LITIGATION Hon. Colm F. Connolly CLASS ACTION This Document Related To: ALL ACTIONS. CONSOLIDATED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS AND JURY TRIAL DEMAND PRICKETT JONES & SAXENA WHITE P.A. ELLIOTT, P.A Maya S. Saxena Bruce E. Jameson (Bar No. 2931) Joseph E. White, III Marcus E. Montejo (Bar No. 4890) Lester R. Hooker Stephen D. Dargitz (Bar No. 3619) Dianne M. Pitre 1310 King Street 7777 Glades Road, Suite 300 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Boca Raton, Florida 33434 Telephone: (302) 888-6500 Telephone: (561) 394-3399 Liaison Counsel for the Class Steven B. Singer Kyla Grant 10 Bank Street, 8th Floor White Plains, New York 10606 Telephone: (914) 437-8551 David R. Kaplan Brandon Marsh 12750 High Bluff Drive, Suite 475 San Diego, California 92130 Telephone: (858) 997-0860 Counsel for Lead Plaintiff New York State Teachers’ Retirement System and Lead Counsel for the Class April 3, 2020 Case 1:19-cv-01911-CFC Document 30 Filed 04/03/20 Page 2 of 172 PageID #: 439 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE ...................................................................... 8 III. PARTIES AND RELEVANT NON-PARTIES .............................................. 8 A. Lead Plaintiff ......................................................................................... 8 B. Defendants ............................................................................................. 9 1. Chemours .................................................................................... 9 2. The Individual Defendants ........................................................10 C. Relevant Non-Parties ...........................................................................13 IV. OVERVIEW OF THE CHEMOURS FRAUD .............................................14 A. DuPont’s Performance Chemicals Business, The Predecessor To Chemours, Had A Long History Of Discharging PFAS And Other Toxic Substances Into The Environment—And Covering It Up .....................................................................................................14 B. DuPont Spins Off Chemours By Assigning It Two-Thirds Of Its Environmental Liabilities—Causing Analysts To Question The Company’s Solvency And Viability ...................................................18 C. In A Desperate Bid To Reassure The Market, Defendants Unveil A “Transformation Plan” To Strengthen The Company’s Balance Sheet, While Insisting Its Inherited Liabilities Are Under Control ......................................................................................20 D. During The Class Period, Defendants Proclaimed Their Transformation Plan Had Worked—While Dramatically Downplaying The Company’s Inherited Liabilities ............................23 E. According To Chemours’ Extraordinary Sworn Pleading, DuPont Dumped “Massive Historical Liabilities” On Chemours Amounting To $2.5 Billion—Rendering It Insolvent .........................26 ii Case 1:19-cv-01911-CFC Document 30 Filed 04/03/20 Page 3 of 172 PageID #: 440 F. Chemours Admitted That Its Most Senior Executives Were Fully Aware That The Company Was Insolvent “On Day One”—And That Insolvency Persisted Throughout The Class Period ...................................................................................................32 G. In Its Sworn Pleading, Chemours Admitted That Numerous Categories Of Inherited Liabilities Were Vastly Understated— By Chemours .......................................................................................36 1. PFOA Litigation ........................................................................36 2. New Jersey ................................................................................40 3. North Carolina ...........................................................................46 4. Benzene Litigation ....................................................................54 5. PFAS and GenX Litigation .......................................................56 6. Defendants Admitted To Understating Their Liabilities During The Class Period By Over $2.5 Billion ........................57 H. Lead Plaintiff’s CWs Confirm That Defendants Massively Understated Chemours’ Environmental Liabilities Both Prior To And During The Class Period ........................................................59 1. Lead Plaintiff’s CWs Confirmed That The Company Had A Routine Practice Of Deliberately Understating And Underestimating Environmental Liabilities ..............................60 2. The Former President Of Fluoroproducts At Chemours Gave A Presentation To The Individual Defendants And The Board Showing Remediation Would Cost $2 Billion .......66 V. THE TRUTH BEGINS TO EMERGE ..........................................................70 A. Details Regarding The True Extent Of Chemours’ Environmental Liabilities Come To Light At The Sohn Investment Conference ........................................................................70 B. Chemours’ Verified Complaint Reveals, For The First Time, That The Company Was Insolvent At The Time Of The Spin- Off And Faced $2.5 Billion In Environmental Liabilities ..................72 iii Case 1:19-cv-01911-CFC Document 30 Filed 04/03/20 Page 4 of 172 PageID #: 441 C. Defendants Belatedly Reveal The Full Effects Of Chemours’ True Environmental Liabilities ...........................................................76 D. Post-Class Period Events Confirm The Continuing Ramifications Of Defendants’ Fraud ..................................................77 1. Analysts Question The Viability Of Chemours And Anticipate True Liabilities In The Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars ..................................................................................78 2. Proceedings In Chemours’ Litigation Against DuPont Further Evidence Defendants’ Fraud ........................................78 3. Additional Litigations, Federal Legislation, And A Potential DOJ Criminal Investigation Of Chemours ................81 VI. DEFENDANTS’ MATERIALLY FALSE AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS AND OMISSIONS .............................................................83 A. False And Misleading Statements And Omissions During The Class Period .........................................................................................84 1. False Statements In 2017 ..........................................................84 2. False Statements In 2018 ........................................................106 3. False Statements In 2019 ........................................................120 B. Chemours’ Financial Statements Violated GAAP ............................131 1. Requirements To Disclose Loss Contingencies .....................132 2. Requirements To Accrue For Loss Contingencies .................134 3. Specific Guidance Governing Litigation, Claims, And Assessments ............................................................................137 4. Fundamental Accounting Concepts ........................................138 5. Defendants’ GAAP Violations ...............................................139 VII. LOSS CAUSATION ...................................................................................148 VIII. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS ............................................................151 iv Case 1:19-cv-01911-CFC Document 30 Filed 04/03/20 Page 5 of 172 PageID #: 442 IX. APPLICABILITY OF PRESUMPTION OF RELIANCE: FRAUD- ON-THE-MARKET DOCTRINE ...............................................................153 X. INAPPLICABILITY OF STATUTORY SAFE HARBOR AND THE BESPEAKS CAUTION DOCTRINE .........................................................155 XI. CLAIMS BROUGHT PURSUANT TO THE EXCHANGE ACT ............156 XII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF ..............................................................................161 XIII. JURY DEMAND .........................................................................................162 v Case 1:19-cv-01911-CFC Document 30 Filed 04/03/20 Page 6 of 172 PageID #: 443 GLOSSARY ABBREVIATION DEFINITION ASC FASB Accounting Standards Codification CEO Chief Executive Officer CFO Chief Financial Officer Chemours The Chemours Company Class Period February 16, 2017 through August 1, 2019, inclusive Company The Chemours Company COO Chief Operating Officer Corteva Corteva, Inc. CW Confidential Witness Defendants The Chemours Company, Mark P. Vergnano, and Mark E. Newman Deloitte Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP Dow The Dow Chemical Company DowDuPont DowDuPont, Inc. DuPont E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company EBITDA Earnings Before Income, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Exchange Act Securities Exchange Act of 1934 FASB Financial Accounting Standards Board FASCONs Statements of Financial Accounting Concepts Promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Individual Defendants Mark P. Vergnano and Mark E. Newman vi Case 1:19-cv-01911-CFC Document 30 Filed 04/03/20 Page 7 of 172 PageID #: 444 ABBREVIATION DEFINITION ISRA New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act Lead Plaintiff New York State Teachers’ Retirement System NC DEQ North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality New York Teachers New York State