Compass Minerals Leaders Sued Over Fire Retardants, Salt Mining

Compass Minerals International Inc. products to combat fire and ice are at the center of a pair of investor lawsuits against the multi-industry mineral provider’s directors and executives, alleging they breached their fiduciary duties and committed other corporate malfeasance.

The leaders misrepresented the safety and government contract prospects for its magnesium chloride-based fire retardants, the main product of a company it had recently acquired, Fabrizio Morelli says in one derivative suit. And an overlapping set of current and former officials concealed the failure of new salt mining equipment to save costs as anticipated, Morelli says in the other suit. Morelli ...