Meadowvale’s Employee Stock Plan Spurs Would-be Class Lawsuit

Two former Meadowvale Inc. employees filed a proposed class action saying the dairy dessert company’s employee stock ownership plan was mismanaged in an effort to improperly benefit company insiders.

Meadowvale’s ESOP committee amended the plan to allow the company’s chairman to receive a one-time lump sum payout that was unavailable to other employees, the plaintiffs said in a complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for Northern District of Illinois. Company insiders also allegedly failed to disclose real estate transactions between Meadowvale and a secret holding company—a move plaintiffs say diminished the value of the stock held in their ...