Bally Total Fitness Holding Corporation (NYSE: BFT), the largest commercial operator of fitness centers, announced today that the consolidated securities class action pending against the company and several of its current and former officers in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, was dismissed last week.
The dismissal was without prejudice, and Senior District Judge John F. Grady gave the plaintiffs until August 14, 2006 to file an amended complaint.
A copy of the court's opinion is available here.
The company's former outside auditor, Ernst & Young, LLP, was also a defendant in the litigation. E&Y's motion to dismiss was also granted.
Cosmos Investment Company, LLC was previously appointed the lead plaintiff and Berger & Montague, P.C. and Much Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein P.C. were appointed lead and liaison counsel, respectively. The Court's order appointing Cosmos as lead plaintiff is available here.
The individual defendants in the litigation were Lee S. Hillman Bally's Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board until December 2002, John W. Dwyer, Bally's former Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, and a member of Bally's Board of Directors, and Paul A. Toback, Bally's current Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board.
Bally's operates more than 400 company owned and franchised facilities in 29 states, Mexico, Canada, Korea, China and the Caribbean.
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