Symantec Corporation
Robbins LLP represented its institutional client while serving as co-lead counsel in the Consolidated Action in this case on behalf of Symantec Corporation, n/k/a Gen Digital. The complaint alleged that defendants engaged in improper revenue recognition practices, in violation of GAAP and the SEC’s regulations and policies, by counting non-GAAP revenue that should have been written off following the acquisitions of Blue Coat Systems and Lifelock Inc. Though the Board was aware of the discrepancies between Symantec’s GAAP and non-GAAP revenue measurements, the Board failed to cause Symantec to disclose the material discrepancies to the market. It was not until an internal whistleblower prompted the Company’s Audit Committee to announce it would investigate Symantec’s non-GAAP-related revenue recognition practices that Symantec finally publicized the internal investigation, causing Symantec’s stock price to fall by over thirty percent.
After extensive discovery involving the review of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, the parties participated in a mediation followed by continued consultations with the mediator. After lengthy negotiations, Robbins LLP achieved a $12 million payment from defendants to Gen Digital as compensation for their improper revenue recognition practices that harmed the Company.
In Re Symantec Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation, C.A. No. 2019-0224-JTL (Del. Ch. May 4, 2023)