The lawsuit was filed a few weeks after the Hecla Mining Co had three fatal mining accidents this year and announced the closing of its Lucky Friday silver mine in Idaho. Two shareholders Steven and Linda South and their law firm, Levi & Korsinsky immediately filed a derivative lawsuit and had Judge Laster dismiss the same on grounds of hasty action. Laster took the plaintiffs to task over them not even bothering to demand the company's books and records, and spending little time on the complaint.
Laster, who has been quite often critical of the plaintiff's bar said, “Rather than acting in the best interests of the
corporation, the Souths filed hastily because doing so served the interests of their attorneys.”
Laster wrote, “It's the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, and for fans of Schoolhouse Rock, it will always be a magic number … But three mining accidents in a year does not support a reasonable inference of board involvement, much less bad faith, conscious wrongdoing, or knowing indifference on the part of a board of directors, particularly where the incidents appear unrelated."
However, the judge also mentioned that the dismissal of the present matter would not prevent another shareholder from bringing a new complaint after carrying out an investigation in the proper manner with regard to the mining accidents.
The case is Steven South and Linda South v. Philips S. Baker Jr, Delaware Court of Chancery, No. 7294.
