San Diego, CA -- (SBWire) -- 05/31/2022 --An investor, who purchased shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA), filed a lawsuit over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Pegasystems Inc.
Investors who purchased shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) have certain options and for certain investors are short and strict deadlines running. Deadline: July 18, 2022. NASDAQ: PEGA investors should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 - 1554.
Cambridge, MA based Pegasystems Inc. develops, markets, licenses, hosts, and supports enterprise software applications, such as customer relationship management ("CRM") software, in the United States, rest of the Americas, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. Pegasystems Inc repeatedly stated that the "market for our offerings is intensely competitive, rapidly changing, and highly fragmented" and that Pegasystems Inc was subject to "significant competition" from other technology vendors. In addition, Pegasystems Inc assured investors that it had internally developed its products. Pegasystems Inc also stated that the Company faced a risk that competitors may "appropriate our intellectual property."
Pegasystems Inc. reported that its annual Total Revenue rose from over $1.01 billion in 2020 to over $1.21 billion in 2021, and that its Net Loss increased from $61.37 million in 2020, to $63.04 million in 2021.
The plaintiff alleges that unbeknownst to investors, however, Pegasystems' products and, thus, the revenue generated from those products were, in large part, the result of theft of trade secrets from one of the Company's competitors.
On May 29, 2020, Pegasystems Inc was sued by one of its principal competitors, Appian Corporation ("Appian") in Virginia circuit court for allegedly stealing its trade secrets and violating the commonwealth's computer crime law (the "Appian Litigation"). The lawsuit alleged that Pegasystems Inc retained an employee of a government contractor from 2012 to 2014 to secretly access and learn about Appian's software and pass the information on to Pegasystems in order to improve the Company's products and better train its sales force.
The plaintiff alleges that in violation of SEC reporting requirements, for nearly two full years, Pegasystems Inc never publicly disclosed Appian's lawsuit in its SEC filings. Pegasystems Inc did not even disclose the existence of this lawsuit until it filed its 2021 Annual Report on February 16, 2022 – i.e., just one month before a jury trial was scheduled to begin on March 21, 2022.
On May 10, 2022, Appian announced that it has received a verdict from a jury in the Circuit Court for Fairfax County, Virginia, awarding it $2.036 billion in damages from Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) for trade secret misappropriation. According to press reports, during the seven-week trial, the jury was presented with substantial evidence supporting Appian's claims, including videos, emails, and text messages, and evidence that Alan Trefler ("Trefler"), Pegasystems' Founder and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), personally attended a meeting with the "spy" and received Appian trade secrets supplied by the "spy." During the trial, CEO Trefler admitted that it was "inappropriate" for Pegasystems to have hired the contractor and that the Pegasystems employees who gained access to Appian trial software "shouldn't have done it." The jury found that Pegasystems engaged in "willful and malicious" misappropriation of Appian's trade secrets.
The plaintiff claims that between May 29, 2020 and May 9, 2022, the defendants made materially false and misleading statements throughout the Class Period, including by failing to disclose that Pegasystems had misappropriated trade secrets to better compete against Appian, a principal competitor, that the Defendants' product development and associated success was, in significant part, not the result of its own research and product testing but rather the result of corporate espionage and trade secret theft, and that Defendants had engaged in a scheme to steal Appian trade secrets, which was not only known to, but carried out through, the personal involvement of the Company's CEO
Those who purchased shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation.
Contact:
Shareholders Foundation, Inc.
Michael Daniels
3111 Camino Del Rio North - Suite 423
92108 San Diego
Phone: +1-(858)-779-1554
Fax: +1-(858)-605-5739
mail@shareholdersfoundation.com
About The Shareholders Foundation
The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is a professional portfolio monitoring and settlement claim filing service, , which does research related to shareholder issues and informs investors of securities class actions, settlements, judgments, and other legal related news to the stock/financial market. Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is in contact with a large number of shareholders and offers help, support, and assistance for every shareholder. The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is not a law firm. Referenced cases, investigation, and/or settlements are not filed/reached and/or related to Shareholders Foundation. The information is provided as a public service. It is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied upon.
Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shareholder Notice: Lawsuit Alleges Securities Laws Violations
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) shares over alleged securities laws violations.