Ohio grabs lead position in class action lawsuit against social media giant Facebook

Laura A. Bischoff, The Columbus Dispatch
·1 min read
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Ohio's largest public pension system will take the lead in a class action lawsuit filed against social media giant Facebook.

A judge in the U.S. District Court of Northern California on Wednesday named Ohio as the lead plaintiff in the investors' case that seeks to recover millions of dollars in losses and force CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make changes to the company's internal practices.

"This case is about lies and losses – Facebook's lies, and the losses incurred by our pension systems and others," said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a written statement. "Ohio is happy and determined to lead in enforcing accountability against Facebook."

Facebook class-action lawsuit: Ohio grabs lead position in class action lawsuit against social media giant Facebook

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Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, which manages $125 billion on behalf of 1.1 million Ohioans, says in the lawsuit that it purchased Facebook stock "at artificially inflated prices" in 2021 and suffered damages because of Facebook's violations of federal securities laws.

Facebook is now called Meta.

Who are the plaintiffs in the class action suit against Facebook?

Ohio PERS and PFA Pension of Denmark were picked as co-lead plaintiffs over the California Public Employees Retirement System, because they hold the largest financial stake. OPERS reported that it purchased 139,000 shares between May and September 2021.

The lawsuit is against Facebook and three key executives – founder Zuckerberg, Chief Financial Officer David Wehner and Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg. Plaintiffs are looking to recover more than $100 billion in lost investment value and force significant reforms at Facebook, according to Yost's office.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio lead plaintiff in investor lawsuit against Meta and Zuckerberg