St. Petersburg, FL: (Sep-20-07) Several shareholder class action lawsuits were brought against electronics maker Jabil Circuit Inc. in May 2006, alleging that the company backdated some stock option grants. Responding to the accusations, Jabil investigated its stock option grant practices and said it did not find any merit to claims that company officers issued themselves backdated stock options or tried to get others to do so.
In a recent development, Jabil stated that it will not pay any money under a proposed settlement agreement related to lawsuits. However, the company agreed to adopt new policies and procedures meant to improve its stock option granting process. Jabil agreed to pay $800,000 in attorney's fees, stating that $600,000 of that amount will be covered by its insurance carrier. The company said ongoing class actions that assert claims under federal securities laws are not impacted by this proposed settlement. [FORBES: JABIL STOCK OPTIONS]
