El Pollo Loco Secures Second Dismissal of Securities Complaint

The complaint, which also was brought against Freeman Spogli & Co., alleged that EPL misled investors regarding its ability to meet its comparable store sales projections and the causes of lighter-than-expected comparable store sales growth. After his previous dismissal of the plaintiffs' complaint, Judge David O. Carter of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected the plaintiffs' second chance at stating a securities claim without prejudice. The court found that the plaintiffs still failed to plead a materially false or misleading statement and failed to plead scienter.