BlackBerry‘s hope to squash a lawsuit has been dashed by a U.S. judge who says the legal proceedings can move forward. Plaintiffs allege BlackBerry “inflated its stock price and defrauded shareholders” by suggesting sales of BlackBerry 10 handsets were much better than they really were.
The case was originally dismissed in March 2015, but new evidence suggests there’s merit to the accusations. A retailer called Wireless Zone compiled data that showed a high return rate for BlackBerry 10 handsets. James Dunham, former CEO of Wireless Zone, sold that data to Detwiler Fenton, which generated a report detailing consumers’ general dissatisfaction with BlackBerry 10 phones.
BlackBerry’s executives publicly said at the time that Blackberry 10 owners were in fact “satisfied” and the company insisted that return rates for Blackberry 10 handsets were “at or below our forecasts and right in line with the industry.”
It is these statements, in light of evidence to the contrary, that the plaintiffs say misled investors and eventually led to shareholder losses when BlackBerry 10 collapsed. BlackBerry did not comment on the matter, which now heads to trial.
