BALA CYNWYD, Pa., April 21, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP:
Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, on behalf of all securities purchasers of HealthSouth Corporation (NYSE:HRC) ("HealthSouth" or the "Company") publicly traded securities during the period between February 25, 1998 and March 19, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period").
Throughout the Class Period, as alleged in the complaint, defendants issued numerous statements which described the Company's increasing revenues and profits. As alleged in the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (i) that since at least fiscal 1997, in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), the Company had materially overstated the Company's revenues and profits in order to meet or exceed Wall Street analysts' expectations and to artificially inflate the price of HRC's stock; (ii) that since at least fiscal 1999 in violation of GAAP the Company had materially overstated the Company's revenues, earnings, assets and equity by at least $1.4 billion in furtherance of its scheme to report revenues that met or exceeded Wall Street analysts' expectations and to artificially inflate the price of HRC's stock analysts; and (iii) that as a result, the value of the Company's periodic net income, assets and shareholders' equity were materially misstated at all relevant times.
The Class Period ends on March 19, 2003, the day following the SEC's filing of a civil fraud action against HRC and Scrushy alleging that "... shortly after 1986, and at Scrushy's instruction, the company began to artificially inflate earnings to match Wall Street expectations and maintain the market price for HRC's stock." On March 19, 2003, prior to the market's opening, HRC issued a press release announcing that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant at the company's corporate headquarters.
Also on March 19, 2003, the SEC issued notice that trading in HRC's common stock had been suspended, the stock's last reported closing was at $3.91 per share on March 18, 2003, compared to a Class Period high of $30.5625 reached on May 1, 1998.
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for over fourteen years and has recovered more than $1 billion for investors. If you have purchased HealthSouth Corporation (NYSE:HRC) securities and want to learn more about this lawsuit and about becoming a lead plaintiff, you may visit our website at http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
If you purchased HealthSouth Corporation (NYSE:HRC) securities between February 25, 1998 through March 19, 2003, you may be a member of the class and have until May 20, 2003 to move the court to become a lead plaintiff. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements.
To learn more about your rights and interests in this case and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-822-2221, fax number 610-822-0002, e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com or visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca