Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder law firm, reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of investors that purchased Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE: SEE) securities between November 5, 2014 and August 6, 2018 (the “Class Period”). Investors have until January 2, 2020 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Click here to participate in the action.

On November 5, 2014 Sealed Air filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2014, which was signed by defendant Stiehl and contained signed certifications by defendants Peribere and Lowe stating that the statements contained therein were accurate and not materially misleading. The Form 10-Q stated that Sealed Air had achieved $59.3 million in net earnings for the quarter.

In subsequent quarterly earnings releases and Forms 10-Q and 10-K, Sealed Air continued to represent that its deductions and accounting treatment of the Settlement were proper and that the Company’s financial results, which had been certified by the Individual defendants, had been fairly and accurately represented in these financial filings in all material respects. In addition, in each Sealed Air Form 10-Q and Form 10-K filed during the Class Period, defendants claimed that the financial statements contained therein were prepared in conformance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Sealed Air also continued to cite E&Y’s purported “independence” in recommending that shareholders vote to approve the auditing firm, which shareholders did in every year from 2015 to 2019.

On August 6, 2018, Sealed Air filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2018, which revealed that the Company had received a subpoena from the SEC requesting documents and information concerning the Company’s accounting for income taxes and financial reporting and disclosures. Analysts widely viewed the SEC investigation as relating to the Company’s tax treatment of the Settlement. The SEC investigation severely undermined the Company’s purported defense to the IRS disallowance proceedings.

On this news, the price of Sealed Air stock immediately fell over 5% to close at $41 per share on August 7, 2018. In the days that followed, the price of Sealed Air common stock continued to decline, falling to just over $30 per share by October 2018.

The complaint, filed on November 1, 2019, alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants engaged in a scheme to deceive the market and a course of conduct that artificially inflated the price of Sealed Air common stock and operated as a fraud or deceit on purchasers of Sealed Air common stock. When the truth about Sealed Air’s misconduct was revealed over time, the value of the Company’s stock declined precipitously as the prior artificial inflation no longer propped up the stock’s price. The decline in the price of Sealed Air stock was the direct result of the nature and extent of defendants’ fraud finally being revealed to investors and the market. The timing and magnitude of the share price decline negate any inference that the losses suffered by plaintiff and other members of the Class were caused by changed market conditions, macroeconomic or industry factors, or Company-specific facts unrelated to the defendants’ fraudulent conduct. The economic loss, i.e., damages, suffered by plaintiff and other Class members was a direct result of defendants’ fraudulent scheme to artificially inflate the price of the Company’s stock and the subsequent significant decline in the value of the Company’s stock when defendants’ prior misrepresentations and other fraudulent conduct were revealed.

If you purchased Sealed Air securities during the Class Period, continue to hold shares purchased before the Class Period, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at investigations@bespc.com, or telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.