NEW YORK, June 20, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Wechsler Harwood LLP announces that on June 17, 2005 it filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of the securities of OCA, Inc. ("OCA" or the "Company") (NYSE:OCA) between May 18, 2004 and June 6, 2005, inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").
The action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, against defendants OCA, Bartholomew F. Palmisano, Sr. (Chief Executive Officer), Bartholomew F. Palmisano, Jr., and David E. Verret (Chief Financial Officer).
The Complaint alleges that Defendants issued, or caused to be issued, false and misleading statements during the Class Period to artificially inflate the value of OCA stock. Specifically, on June 7, 2005, the Defendants admitted that they overstated patient receivables in the 2004 Form 10-Q's filed for the periods ending March 31, June 30 and September 30 of that year. The Company has not yet disclosed the extent of the necessary restatement of these periods, but has indicated that the amount is material and that these statements should not be relied upon by investors. The Company also disclosed that its Board of Directors had appointed a Special Committee to review "certain journal entries recorded in the Company's general ledger, the circumstances in which they originated and their impact on the Company's financial statements." In addition, the Special Committee is reviewing "certain alleged changes in data provided to the Company's independent registered public accounting firm." On this news, and the Company's continued delay in filing its annual report on Form 10-K, OCA's stock plummeted just shy of 40 percent on June 7, 2005, to close at $2.58 per share on unusually high trading volume of 9 million shares.
If you bought the securities of OCA between May 18, 2004 and June 6, 2005, and sustained damages, you may, no later than August 8, 2005, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Wechsler Harwood LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Wechsler Harwood LLP, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions involving financial fraud, has prosecuted securities, antitrust and consumer class actions for over 10 years. For more information about Wechsler Harwood LLP, please visit its website at www.whesq.com.
If you wish to discuss this action with us, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights and interests with regard to the case, please contact the following:
Wechsler Harwood LLP 488 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor New York, New York 10022 Toll Free Telephone: (877) 935-7400 Virgilio Soler, Jr., Wechsler Harwood Shareholder Relations Department: vsoler@whesq.com
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.