Notice of Lead Plaintiff Deadline for Shareholders in the Beyond Meat, Inc. Securities Class Action Lawsuit

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) securities between May 2, 2019 and January 27, 2020 (the “Class Period”). The case is captioned Tran v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 20-cv-00963, and is assigned to Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald. The Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit charges Beyond Meat and certain of its officers with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Beyond Meat securities during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery of the Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit or have questions concerning your rights regarding the Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit, please visit our website by clicking here or contact Brian Cochran at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at [email protected]. Lead plaintiff motions for the Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit must be filed with the court no later than March 30, 2020.

Beyond Meat is a food company that provides plant-based protein products that are sold as substitutes for beef, pork, and poultry. Beyond Meat sells its products to various customers in the retail and foodservice channels through brokers and distributors in the United States and internationally.

Don Lee Farms is a maker of plant-based and meat proteins. In 2014, Beyond Meat entered into an exclusive supply agreement with Don Lee to produce all of Beyond Meat’s products, including the development and launch of Beyond Meat’s popular Beyond Burger. In early 2017, following the launch of the Beyond Burger, Beyond Meat terminated the supply agreement and transferred its production from Don Lee to other food manufacturers. On May 25, 2017, Don Lee filed a complaint against Beyond Meat in the Los Angeles County Superior Court asserting claims for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair competition, seeking monetary damages and declaratory and injunctive relief.

As the litigation progressed, Don Lee alleged that Beyond Meat had employed lax food safety practices during the two companies’ partnership, specifically alleging that Don Lee found plastics, cardboard, and a metal nozzle in ingredients that Beyond Meat supplied. Don Lee also alleged that Beyond Meat had provided an altered copy of a food-safety audit of its manufacturing facilities, and on that basis added fraud claims to its suit against Beyond Meat in March 2019.

The Beyond Meat securities class action lawsuit alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants failed to disclose that Beyond Meat’s termination of its supply agreement with Don Lee constituted a breach of that agreement, thus exposing Beyond Meat to foreseeable legal liability and reputational harm, and Beyond Meat and certain of its employees had doctored and/or omitted material information from a food safety consultant’s report, which Beyond Meat had represented as accurate to Don Lee. As a result of this information being withheld from the market, Beyond Meat securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, with its stock price reaching a high of more than $230 per share.

On January 27, 2020, after the market closed, Don Lee announced that it was likely to obtain a judgment against Beyond Meat in its lawsuit. According to Don Lee, “[a] judge has ruled Don Lee . . . proved the probable validity of its claim that Beyond Meat breached its manufacturing agreement with Don Lee” and that in “a separate motion . . . the Court granted Don Lee[’s] request to name Beyond Meat[’s] [CFO and other senior officers] in its fraud claims which allege they intentionally doctored and omitted material information from a food safety consultant’s report . . . and affirmatively represented that it was the complete opinion of the consultant.” On this news, the price of Beyond Meat stock fell nearly 4%, or $4.63 per share, to close at $120.12 per share on January 28, 2020, causing substantial harm to investors.

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world’s leading law firms representing investors in securities litigation. With 200 lawyers in 9 offices, Robbins Geller has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history. For six consecutive years, ISS Securities Class Action Services has ranked the Firm in its annual SCAS Top 50 Report as one of the top law firms in the world in both amount recovered for shareholders and total number of class action settlements. Robbins Geller attorneys have helped shape the securities laws and have recovered tens of billions of dollars on behalf of aggrieved victims. Beyond securing financial recoveries for defrauded investors, Robbins Geller also specializes in implementing corporate governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for investors worldwide. Robbins Geller attorneys are consistently recognized by courts, professional organizations, and the media as leading lawyers in the industry. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.

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Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
Brian Cochran, 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058
[email protected]