Police Retire. Sys of St Louis v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

This case, involving robotic surgical devices, raises the question of how precise public statements of a company’s potential growth must be to comply with the anti-fraud protections of the securities laws. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (“Intuitive”) is a' corporation that designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci Surgical Systems (“Systems”), cutting-edge robotic devices used for minimally invasive surgeries. The Police Retirement System of St. Louis (“PRS”) is a public pension fund that purchased shares of Intuitive stock.

PRS brought a class action suit against Intuitive on behalf of purchasers of Intuitive common stock, alleging violations of §§ 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Rule 10b-5. See 15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78t(a); 17 C.F.R. § 240 .10b-5. PRS also named as defendants the following Intuitive executives (collectively, the “individual defendants”): Lonnie M. Smith, the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors; Gary S. Guthart, the President and COO; Jerome J. McNamara, the Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing; Marshall L. Mohr, the Senior Vice President and CFO; Aleks Cukic,…