Beckman Coulter, Inc. Former Employee Whistleblower Investigation

Beckman Coulter, Inc. faces a lawsuit i in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of Beckman Coulter, Inc. common stock during the period between July 31, 2009 and July 22, 2010, over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Beckman Coulter. Meanwhile an investigation on behalf of former and current employees of Beckman Coulter, Inc. (NYSE:BEC) was announced.

Beckman Coulter, Inc. has been accused of securities fraud by allegedly issuing between July 31, 2009 and July 22, 2010 materially false and misleading statements regarding its business and financial results.

According to the investigation by a law firm under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed into law in July the SEC can award between 10 percent and 30 percent of any monetary sanctions of more than $1 million to whistleblowers who provide “original information” leading to a successful SEC enforcement. Whistleblowers may remain completely anonymous and work with the SEC through an attorney. Under the new law, so the investigation, whistleblowers are also granted expanded rights and protections against employer retaliation when disclosing information of corporate wrongdoing to the SEC. In addition, so the investigation, under ERISA employees (former and current) of Beckman Coulter, Inc. (NYSE:BEC) may be eligible to file a ERISA complaint for putting stock options at risk if they can prove their employer violated its fiduciary duty to them.

The plaintiff alleges that the defendants engaged in improper behavior that harmed Beckman's investors by failing to disclose the quality and compliance issues related to its troponin test kits and as a result of defendants' false statements, Beckman's stock (BEC) traded at artificially inflated prices between July 31, 2009 and July 22, 2010, reaching a high of $71.20 per share on September 14, 2009. On June 21, 2010 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to Beckman Coulter Inc. reiterating the agency's stance that Beckman Coulter marketed a test for heart problems without needed FDA clearance. Then on July 22, 2010, Beckman Coulter, Inc. reported its second quarter 2010 results, announcing that it had missed earnings estimates for the quarter and further that it was reducing its guidance due in substantial part to troponin quality and compliance issues. As a result of this news, so the lawsuit, Beckman Coulter's stock BEC declined $12.64 per share to close at $47.26 per share on July 23, 2010, a one-day decline of 21% on volume of over 8.6 million shares. On September 07, 2010, Beckman Coulter Inc. announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Scott Garrett resigned, effective September 6, 2010. The board of directors appointed J. Robert Hurley as interim president and CEO. Shares of Beckman Coulter, Inc. (BEC) traded recently at $45.11 per share, down from its current 52weekHigh of $71.57 per share. BEC shares traded in July 2010 as high as $63.25 per share before taking the hit on July 23, 2010 to under $48 per share. BEC shares traded as high as $74.94 per share in August 2008 before decreasing until the end of the year as a result of the financial crisis to as low as $39.44 per share in December 2008. Since the 2008 low BEC shares were able to regain value in 2009 to as high as over $70 per share.