FirstEnergy Must Give Bribery Probe Evidence to Shareholders

FirstEnergy Corp. can’t immediately appeal an order compelling it to provide documents and information from a pair of internal bribery investigations to investors suing it over stock losses, a federal court ruled.

FirstEnergy’s original argument to keep the material out of investors’ hands relied on a board member’s affidavit that the law firm-led investigations were conducted because of “sudden and extraordinary legal risk” of government action, Judge Algenon L. Marbley said for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

But the court found the affidavit was invalid because the board member failed to declare its contents were ...