Earlier this year, a group of more than 16,000 shareholders sued DT, a leading international telecommunications company, in a class-action lawsuit in Germany. The plaintiffs claim that, back in 2000, the company provided misleading information about its net worth, and failed to disclose a possible takeover of U.S. mobile phone company VoiceStream and the risks associated with that takeover. The current plaintiffs allege that the VoiceStream takeover led to a large drop in DT’s share price. The plaintiffs seek approximately 80 million Euro in alleged damages.
The records relating to the U.S. lawsuit reportedly include emails and other documents provided by former DT board members. The decision therefore points out the possibility that electronic discovery produced for U.S. litigation may later have to be made available in non-U.S. litigation as well.