CLEWISTON – April 28, 2009 – U.S. Sugar Corporation announced today that a federal judge has dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims in 12 of the 13 counts in a lawsuit against the company, its executives and board of directors and dismissed all of the claims of 5 of the 6 plaintiffs in the sole remaining count.
“This ruling is a significant victory for U.S. Sugar,” said Judy Sanchez, director of corporate communications.
Among other key rulings, the Court dismissed without prejudice claims challenging the valuation of US Sugar Stock held by its Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The Court ruled that participants have to bring their claims to the Company’s ESOP Plan Committee for a decision in the first instance. The Court ruled that participants could not file a lawsuit until they exhaust their administrative remedies.
“The Plan is designed to ensure that participants receive fair market value for any minority shares they sell back to the Company on retirement,” said Sanchez. “If claims are filed with the Plan Committee challenging the valuation, the Committee and its advisors will then undertake a process to decide the claims in accordance with the terms of the Plan.”