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NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against The GEO Group, Inc. (“GEO Group” or the “Company”)(NYSE: GEO) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and indexed under 20-cv-81063, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired GEO Group securities between February 27, 2020, and June 16, 2020, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased GEO Group securities during the class period, you have until September 7, 2020, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
GEO Group is purportedly the first fully integrated equity real estate investment trust specializing in the design, financing, development, and operation of secure facilities, processing centers, and community reentry centers in the U.S., Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. GEO Group is also purportedly a leading provider of enhanced in-custody rehabilitation, post-release support, electronic monitoring, and community-based programs. The Company’s worldwide operations include the ownership and/or management of, among other facilities, halfway houses in the U.S.
Between late 2019 and early 2020, a novel strain of the coronavirus disease, commonly referred to as COVID-19, became an ongoing global pandemic, with the outbreak first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The virus quickly spread to other countries, including the U.S., prompting state, federal, and private parties to enact various health and safety measures to halt the spread of the disease, which has since claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, with over one hundred thousand deaths in the U.S. alone. To date, the State of Kansas (“Kansas”) has experienced at least 12,970 cases and 261 deaths related to COVID-19.
The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) GEO Group maintained woefully ineffective COVID-19 response procedures; (ii) those inadequate procedures subjected residents of the Company’s halfway houses to significant health risks; (iii) accordingly, the Company was vulnerable to significant financial and/or reputational harm; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On June 17, 2020, during pre-market hours, The Intercept published an article entitled “GEO Group’s Blundering Response to the Pandemic Helped Spread Coronavirus in Halfway Houses.” The article reported details of a significant COVID-19 outbreak at the Grossman Center, a halfway house in Leavenworth, Kansas, operated by GEO Group—which “was for weeks the hardest hit federal halfway house in the country” in terms of confirmed cases of COVID-19. Citing interviews with residents of the Grossman Center, The Intercept characterized GEO Group’s response as “blundering” and reported, “that the virus spread not in spite of the facility’s efforts to contain it, but because of it.” According to the article, the Grossman Center continued to keep its residents in overcrowded conditions without enforcing personal protective measures even as COVID-19 diagnoses at the facility increased.
On this news, GEO Group’s stock price fell $1.03 per share, or 7.8%, to close at $12.17 per share on June 17, 2020.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
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