Pittsburgh, PA, May 21, 2006--The Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., PC announced that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on behalf of all securities purchasers of The Home Depot and certain of its officers and directors between May 19, 2001 and February 22, 2005, inclusive (the "Class Period") against Home Depot, Robert L. Nardelli, Carol B. Tome, Kenneth G. Langone, Berry R. Cox, John L. Clendenin and Larry M. Mercer.
The complaint alleges violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by the making of materially false and misleading statements concerning Home Depot's operations and financial condition which caused The Home Depot's securities to trade at artificially inflated prices during the class period.
The complaint also alleges that throughout the class period, the company deceived vendors and falsified Home Depot's financial results through fraudulent return-to-vendor (RTV) policies. More specifically, it alleges that the defendants (a) coerced Home Depot employees to fraudulently inflate company charges to vendors to cover the cost of defective and/or damaged merchandise; and (b) pressured suppliers who complained about excessive chargebacks by threatening to reduce orders of their products. This action seeks to recover damages on behalf of defrauded investors who purchased Home Depot securities.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than July 11, 2006 move the court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." The ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., PC, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
