Florida defense contractor Raydon Corp. and Lubbock National Bank received final approval for a $2.4 million settlement in a case challenging a $60.5 million transaction in which Raydon became employee-owned through a stock plan, according to a federal court order.
Judge Wendy W. Berger of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida signed the final approval order Monday. She also awarded about $860,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to the lawyers representing the Raydon stock plan participants.
The settlement ends a lawsuit led by plan participant Stephanie Woznicki, who accused Raydon, top executives, and plan trustee Lubbock National of orchestrating a 2015 transaction in which the plan paid $60.5 million for Raydon stock that may have been worth less than $5 million. The case largely survived the defendants’ motion to dismiss in 2019, and Berger certified the case as a class action in 2020.
The parties’ first attempt to secure approval for the settlement fell flat in 2021, when Berger adopted a magistrate report identifying multiple problems with the deal, including its failure to include an appropriate plan of allocation or to properly protect class members’ personal data. The parties filed a revised deal last May.
In 2020, By Light Professional IT Services LLC acquired Raydon and the shares held by its stock plan, and the company expects to terminate the plan, according to the parties’ settlement motion.
The class is represented by Block & Leviton LLP, Feinberg Jackson Worthman & Wasow LLP, and Burr & Smith LLP. Raydon is represented by Jackson Lewis PC. Lubbock is represented by McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
The case is Woznicki v. Raydon Corp., M.D. Fla., No. 6:18-cv-02090, 5/2/22.
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