Twitter settles suit for $809 million

Sept. 20, 2021 Updated Mon., Sept. 20, 2021 at 5:26 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO – Twitter said Monday it will pay $809.5 million to settle a consolidated class action lawsuit alleging that the company misled investors about how much its user base was growing and how much users interacted with its platform.

The San Francisco company said the proposed settlement, which must still be signed off by a judge, resolves all claims against it without Twitter admitting any wrongdoing.

The original lawsuit filed in 2016 by Twitter investor Doris Shenwick claimed that Twitter executives “knowingly made inaccurate public statements regarding these metrics, and failed to disclose internal information about them, resulting in an inflated share price that fell when the truth about user engagement became known.”

The company said it plans to use cash on hand to pay the settlement in the fourth quarter of 2021.

NHTSA probes Takata airbags

SILVER SPRING, Md. – The U.S. government’s highway safety regulator has opened an investigation into a potential problem that surfaced last year with 56 million Takata airbags but that the agency eventually deemed safe based on industry research.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not posted an official document on the investigation yet, but said that it wasn’t aware of any injuries or fatalities due to the problem and that the public “does not need to take any action.”

The agency said Monday its investigation will try to determine if there’s a defect in nonrecalled frontal and passenger inflators manufactured by Takata, adding that “no present safety risk has been identified.”

Takata had used the volatile chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash.

But it was discovered that the chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high heat and humidity.

It can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers.

More than 25 people were killed and more than 300 were injured by metal flying from the airbags, setting off a series of the largest automotive recalls in U.S. history.

From wire reports

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