Tellabs shareholders' class action suit certified by U.S. judge

Tellabs Inc., a telecommunications equipment maker, must face a class-action lawsuit accusing company executives of making misleading statements about its stock value.

The company yesterday lost its bid in federal court in Chicago to stop the case from going forward as a class-action, or group, complaint. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve certified as a class those who bought the company's shares from December 2000 to June 2001. In a separate ruling, she also denied a defense request to dismiss the suit.

"Tellabs denies the claims raised by the plaintiffs and will continue to vigorously defend on the merits of the case," company spokesman George Stenitzer said in a phone interview.

Shareholders accused the Naperville-based company's founder, Michael Birck, former Chief Executive Officer Richard Notebaert and others of touting the Tellabs products even as demand for them slackened.

Plaintiffs' attorney Marvin Miller of Chicago didn't immediately return a call seeking comment on the decision. The class is seeking unspecified money damages.

St. Eve dismissed the case in 2004, two years after it was filed, citing deficiencies in the complaint. When a federal appeals court panel reversed her ruling, the company appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

That court returned the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago with instructions to reconsider whether Notebaert knew the challenged statements were misleading when he made them. That panel adhered to its initial ruling in a decision made last year.