E&Y has AOL-Time Warner case thrown out
Final lawsuit over controversial merger dismissed
Ernst & Young is finally in the clear over its role in the controversial
2001 AOL-Time Warner merger after the last of hundreds of lawsuits was dismissed
in New York yesterday (30 Nov).
District judge Colleen MacMahon granted the Big Four’s motion to dismiss the
2003 lawsuit brought by AOL shareholder Dominic Amorosa as the time limit for
securities fraud cases had expired and the cases had failed to connect the
statements made by the auditor to stock losses.
Amorosa had accused E&Y of approving false and misleading financial
statements and concealing AOL’s improper methods of booking online advertising
revenue. E&Y claimed Amorosa, who dropped out of a class action lawsuit to
file his own case, was a “vexatious litigant pursuing clearly frivolous claims”.