Litigation and Loss Contingencies
The Company accrues estimates for resolution of legal and other contingencies when losses are probable and estimable. From time to time, the Company may become a party to litigation and subject to claims incident to the ordinary course of business, including intellectual property claims, labor and employment claims, and threatened claims, breach of contract claims, tax and other matters. The matters discussed below summarize the Company’s current ongoing pending litigation.
On June 4, 2020, three plaintiffs, seeking to represent a proposed class of individuals who purchased tickets on or after June 3, 2016, filed suit against Eventbrite in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, in a case captioned Snow, et al. v. Eventbrite, Inc., Case No. 20-cv-03698 (the Class Action). Plaintiffs allege that Eventbrite failed to provide an opportunity for purchasers of tickets to events sold through Eventbrite’s platform to obtain a refund where the event is postponed, rescheduled, or canceled. Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief in addition to restitution and monetary damages under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law, in addition to claims brought under California common law. Eventbrite denies the allegations and intends to defend the case vigorously. The case is in its initial stage: Eventbrite has not yet responded to the complaint, no motions have been made, and no rulings have been issued. The Company is unable to predict the likely outcome at this point.
Beginning on April 15, 2019, purported stockholders of the Company filed two putative securities class action complaints in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and three putative securities class action complaints in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Mateo, against the Company, certain of its executives and directors, and its underwriters for the IPO. Some of these actions also name as defendants venture capital firms that were investors in the Company as of the IPO.
On August 22, 2019, the federal court consolidated the two pending actions and appointed lead plaintiffs and lead counsel (the Federal Action). On October 11, 2019, the lead plaintiffs in the Federal Action filed their amended consolidated complaint. The amended complaint generally alleges that the Company misrepresented and/or omitted material information in its IPO offering documents in violation of the Securities Act. The amended complaint also challenges public statements made after the IPO in violation of the Exchange Act. The amended complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages and other relief on behalf of investors who purchased the Company’s Class A common stock issued pursuant and/or traceable to the IPO offering documents, or between September 20, 2018 and May 1, 2019, inclusive. On December 11, 2019, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. On March 18, 2020, the court vacated the hearing on the defendants’ motion to dismiss set for April 16, 2020. On April 28, 2020, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss in its entirety with leave to amend and set a deadline of June 24, 2020 for lead plaintiff to file its second amended consolidated complaint. On June 22, 2020, the Court extended lead plaintiff’s deadline to file its second amended consolidated complaint to August 10, 2020.
On July 29, 2020, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with the lead plaintiff in the Federal Action. The “Settlement Class” is defined in the settlement agreement as “all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Eventbrite, Inc. securities: (a) pursuant or traceable to Eventbrite’s registration statement and prospectus (“Registration Statement”) issued in connection with the Company’s September 20, 2018 initial public offering (“IPO”); or (b) between September 20, 2018 and May 1, 2019, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), and were damaged thereby,” excluding defendants and certain of their affiliates. If members of the Settlement Class do not opt out and the settlement is approved, they will waive, release, discharge, and dismiss, and be forever barred and enjoined from asserting, instituting, maintaining, prosecuting, or enforcing, claims that, among other things, “arise out of or relate in any way to both (i) the purchase, sale, or holding of Eventbrite securities pursuant or traceable to Eventbrite’s registration statement and prospectus (“Registration Statement”) issued in connection with the Company’s September 20, 2018 initial public offering (“IPO”) or were otherwise purchased, sold, or held during the Class Period, and (ii) the allegations, transactions, acts, facts, events, circumstances, statements, or omissions that were or could have been alleged or asserted by Plaintiffs or any member of the Settlement Class in the [Federal] Action or in any other action in any court or forum which relate to the subject matter of [the Federal] Action.” At the time of this filing, lead plaintiff has not filed its motion for preliminary approval of the settlement and the court has not approved the settlement. We recorded $1.9 million of expense during the three months ended June 30, 2020 related to the expected settlement of the Federal Action.
On June 24, 2019, the state court consolidated two state actions pending at that time (the State Action). On July 24, 2019, the two plaintiffs in the State Action filed a consolidated complaint. The consolidated complaint generally alleged that the Company misrepresented and/or omitted material information in the IPO offering documents, in violation of the Securities Act. The amended complaint sought unspecified monetary damages and other relief on behalf of investors who purchased the Company’s Class A common stock issued pursuant and/or traceable to the IPO offering documents. On August 23, 2019, defendants filed demurrers to the consolidated complaint. A third state-court action was filed on August 23, 2019. On September 11, 2019, that complaint was consolidated into the operative complaint filed on July 24, 2019, and the court ordered that the arguments in defendants’ pending demurrers would apply to that newly filed complaint. At the hearing on defendants’ demurrers on November 1, 2019, the court sustained the demurrer with leave to amend. On December 13, 2019, the court
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