The US Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Nvidia of misrepresenting its reliance on the cryptocurrency mining industry, leaving in place an appeals court decision that allowed much of the case to proceed.
In a one-sentence opinion, the court deemed it “improvidently granted” and did not make a ruling. This means that the justices concluded it was a mistake to take up the case, with no notable dissents.
The decision follows a similar move in November for another securities fraud case against Facebook, which also allowed an appeals court ruling to stand. In both cases, the courts’ frustration with the lawyers’ arguments led to dismissals.
During the Nvidia argument, several justices expressed confusion over the technical subject matter and questioned whether they had taken the wrong decision. Justice Elena Kagan stated that the court is not well-equipped to evaluate complex issues like this at a preliminary stage.
The lawsuit in question centered on Nvidia’s compliance with the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which aims to balance frivolous litigation with investors’ ability to recover on legitimate claims. Lawyers for Nvidia argued that the plaintiffs had not met two key hurdles set by the law, including requiring detailed accusations of false statements and strong inferences of company officials knowing the statements were false.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/us/politics/supreme-court-nvidia-securities-fraud.html