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Welcome to the HealthSouth E&Y/UBS Bondholder Settlements website.
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IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES
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File a Proof of Claim:
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If you did not submit a Proof of Claim in connection with the previously announced
HealthSouth Settlement, you must submit one postmarked no later than September 29,
2010. If you did submit a Proof of Claim in connection with the HealthSouth Settlement,
you do not need to submit another one. Your previously submitted claim form will
be evaluated to see if you are eligible to participate in either or both of these
Settlements.
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Request an Exclusion:
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Received no later than July 7, 2010
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File an Objection:
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Received no later than July 7, 2010
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Settlement Fairness Hearing:
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July 22, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division,
Hugo L. Black United States Courthouse, 1729 Fifth Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama
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The following is a summary of information which is presented in more detail in the
Notice of (I) Pendency of Class Action; (II) Proposed Settlements with Ernst & Young
LLP and the UBS Defendants; and (III) Proposed Dismissal of Claims (the “Notice”),
which you can access by clicking on the link with that name to the left. Since this
is just a summary, you should read the full Notice for additional details. The Notice
describes rights you may have in connection with the action and with respect to
these settlements.
Please read this information carefully. If you are a Bondholder Class Member (as
defined below), your rights will be affected by these proceedings and you may be
eligible to receive benefits under a $33,500,000 class action settlement with Ernst
& Young LLP (“E&Y”) and/or a $100,000,000 class action settlement with the UBS Defendants.
The Bondholder Class consists of:
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ALL PERSONS WHO PURCHASED, EXCHANGED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED BONDS, NOTES OR OTHER
DEBT INSTRUMENTS OF HEALTHSOUTH CORPORATION BEGINNING JULY 30, 1999 THROUGH AND
INCLUDING MARCH 18, 2003 AND WERE DAMAGED THEREBY.
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Securities Brokers and other Nominees: Please see instructions on page 15 of the
Notice.
PLEASE NOTE: Not all members of the Bondholder Class are members of the E&Y
Bondholder Class or the UBS Bondholder Class which are subsets of the Bondholder
Class.
- The E&Y Bondholder Class includes only those Bondholder Class Members who purchased
HealthSouth bonds, notes or other debt instruments beginning March 30, 2000 through
and including March 18, 2003. E&Y Bondholder Class Members are eligible to share
in the proceeds of the proposed $33,500,000 settlement with Ernst & Young LLP.
- The UBS Bondholder Class includes only those Bondholder Class Members who purchased
HealthSouth bonds, notes or other debt instruments beginning September 20, 2000
through and including March 18, 2003. UBS Bondholder Class Members are eligible
to share in the proceeds of the proposed $100,000,000 settlement with the UBS Defendants.
- IF YOU ALREADY SUBMITTED A PROOF OF CLAIM IN THE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED HEALTHSOUTH
SETTLEMENT YOU DO NOT NEED TO SUBMIT ANOTHER PROOF OF CLAIM. THAT CLAIM FORM WILL
BE EVALUATED TO SEE IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN EITHER OR BOTH OF THESE
SETTLEMENTS. PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION BELOW AND IN SECTION XI. “PARTICIPATION
IN THE SETTLEMENTS” AT PAGE 13 OF THE NOTICE FOR DETAILS.
The Court’s Settlement Hearing
The Notice was sent pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
and an Order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama,
Southern Division (the “court”). The purpose of the notice is to inform potential
class members of, among other things, the proposed settlements reached in the Bondholder
Action with E&Y and the UBS Defendants, as set forth in the respective stipulations
of settlement, and of the hearing to be held by the court to consider the fairness,
reasonableness and adequacy of the settlements.
The Court will hold a Settlement Hearing at 10:00 a.m. on July 22, 2010,
before the Honorable Karon Owen Bowdre, United States District Judge at United States
Courthouse, Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division, Hugo L. Black United
States Courthouse, 1729 Fifth Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 34203-2000 to determine:
(a) whether the E&Y Settlement consisting of $33,500,000 in cash should be approved
as fair, reasonable and adequate and the proposed E&Y Judgment entered; (b) whether
the UBS Settlement consisting of $100,000,000 in cash should be approved as fair,
reasonable and adequate and the proposed UBS Judgment entered; (c) whether Bondholder
Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel’s request for an award of attorneys’ fees and reimbursement
of litigation expenses (which may include Bondholder Plaintiffs’ costs and expenses)
should be approved by the court; and (d) whether the claims against Richard Scrushy
should be dismissed without prejudice if the two proposed Settlements are approved
and become Final. The Court may adjourn or continue the Settlement Hearing without
further notice to the class.
What is this case about?
The Complaint alleges that during the relevant period, at the direction of senior
HealthSouth management, Defendants implemented a scheme to falsify HealthSouth’s
financial statements in order to meet or exceed Wall Street expectations and to
issue HealthSouth Bonds to finance that alleged fraudulent scheme. E&Y is alleged
to have issued false and misleading audit reports on HealthSouth’s financial statements
during the E&Y Class Period. The UBS Defendants are alleged to have fraudulently
disseminated false and misleading information regarding HealthSouth to the Bondholder
Class and to the market generally through a series of Rule 144A bond offerings between
2000 and 2002.
E&Y and the UBS Defendants (the “Settling Defendants”) have expressly denied and
continue to deny all charges of wrongdoing or liability against them arising out
of any of the conduct, statements, acts or omissions alleged, or that could have
been alleged, in the Bondholder Action.
Terms of the Settlements
The E&Y Settlement: E&Y has paid, or caused to be paid, cash in the amount
of $33,500,000 into an escrow account, which is earning interest, for the benefit
of the E&Y Bondholder Class, pursuant to the terms of the E&Y Stipulation. In exchange
for such payment, the E&Y Released Claims will be released, discharged and dismissed
with prejudice as against each of the E&Y Released Persons.
The UBS Settlement: UBS has paid, or caused to be paid, cash in the amount
of $100,000,000 into an escrow account, which is earning interest for the benefit
of the UBS Bondholder Class, pursuant to the terms of the UBS Stipulation. In exchange
for such payment, the UBS Released Claims will be released, discharged and dismissed
with prejudice as against each of the UBS Released Persons.
The Settlements do not release any claims against the Non-Settling Defendant(s)
as defined in the respective Stipulations or any claims of Bondholder Class Members
who are not members of the E&Y or UBS Bondholder Classes, or any claims of the Stockholder
Class, the Stockholder Settlement Class, the Derivative Plaintiffs and/or HealthSouth
Corporation. The Settlements do not change or modify any of the terms of the HealthSouth
Settlement, nor does either proposed Settlement change or modify any of the terms
of the other proposed Settlement.
A portion of the Settlement Funds will be used for certain administrative expenses,
including the costs of printing and mailing the Notice, the cost of publishing notice,
payment of any taxes assessed against the Settlement Funds and costs associated
with the processing of claims submitted. In addition, a portion of the Settlement
Funds may be awarded by the court to Bondholder Plaintiffs’ Counsel as attorneys’
fees and to reimburse them for their litigation expenses (which may include the
costs and expenses of Bondholder Plaintiffs). The balance of the Settlement Funds
(the “Net Settlement Funds”) will be distributed to Authorized Claimants according
to the Plan of Allocation described in Section X at page 11 to 12 of the Notice.
The Rights of Class Members
If you are a Bondholder Class Member, you have the following options:
- If you are a member of the E&Y Bondholder Class you are eligible to participate
in the E&Y Settlement. If you are a member of the UBS Bondholder Class you are eligible
to participate in the UBS Settlement. If you have NOT previously submitted
a Proof of Claim in connection with the HealthSouth Settlement, you may now file
one with respect to these Settlements. If you are a member of either or both of
these class and submit a Proof of Claim, you will be eligible to share in the proceeds
of the applicable proposed Settlement(s), if your claim is timely and valid and
if the proposed Settlement(s) are finally approved by the court, and you will be
bound by the applicable Judgment(s) and release(s) as described in the notice. If
you are a member of the E&Y and/or the UBS Bondholder Class and you previously submitted
a Proof of Claim in connection with the HealthSouth Settlement, your claim will
be evaluated with respect to these Settlements and if it is valid with respect to
the applicable Settlement(s), you will share in the proceeds of the applicable proposed
Settlement(s) if the Settlement(s) are finally approved by the court. All new claim
submissions must be postmarked no later than September 29, 2010.
- If you DO NOT wish to be included in the Bondholder Class (which means that
you DO NOT wish to participate in the proposed Settlements with E&Y and UBS or in
any recovery that might be obtained pursuant to the outstanding judgment against
Scrushy), you must request to be excluded. You must request exclusion from the Bondholder
Class even if you previously excluded yourself from the HealthSouth Settlement.
To do so, you must submit a written Request for Exclusion that must be received no
later than July 7, 2010. You must set forth: (a) your name, address, and
telephone number; (b) the number and type of HealthSouth Bonds purchased or otherwise
acquired and the number sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of during the period
beginning July 30, 1999 through and including March 18, 2003, the dates of such
purchase(s) or acquisition(s) and/or sales(s), exchange(s) or other disposition(s)
and the price paid or received or consideration given or received for each such
purchase or acquisition or sale, exchange or other disposition; and (c) that you
wish to be excluded from the Bondholder Class. The exclusion request must be addressed
as follows: HealthSouth Corporation Securities Litigation; E&Y/UBS Bondholder Settlements
c/o Rust Consulting, Inc. P.O. Box 2332, Faribault, MN 55021-9032.
NO REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION WILL BE CONSIDERED VALID UNLESS ALL OF THE INFORMATION
DESCRIBED ABOVE IS INCLUDED IN ANY SUCH REQUEST. If the court concludes that you
timely and validly requested exclusion from the Bondholder Class: (a) you will be
excluded from that class which means that you will be excluded from the E&Y and
UBS Bondholder Classes and, thus, will not be eligible to share in the proceeds
of the Settlements described in the Notice, nor will you be eligible to share in
any recovery that might be obtained as a result of execution of the outstanding
judgment against Richard Scrushy; (b) you will not be bound by any judgment that
will be entered in the Bondholder Action (including any judgment entered pursuant
to the Settlements described in the Notice); and (c) you will not be precluded
from otherwise prosecuting an individual claim, if timely, against the Settling
Defendants based on the matters complained of in the Bondholder Action. Unless you
excluded yourself from the Settlement Class certified for purposes of the HealthSouth
Settlement, you will be bound by the terms of the Judgment entered in connection
with that settlement, even if you now elect to exclude yourself from the Bondholder
Class.
If you do not request in writing to be excluded from the Bondholder Class as set
forth above, you will be bound by any and all applicable determinations or judgments
in the Bondholder Action, whether favorable or unfavorable; you will not be able
to bring, or continue to pursue, an individual claim against the Settling Defendants
or Scrushy, if the Bondholder Action continues against him, based on the matters
complained of in the litigation. You shall be deemed to have, and by operation of
the applicable Judgment(s) that may be entered with respect to the proposed Settlement(s)
shall have, fully released all of the Released Claims against the E&Y and/or UBS
Released Persons, as applicable, whether or not you submit a valid Proof of Claim.
- If you are a member of the E&Y or UBS Bondholder Class, you may write to the court
and explain why you do not like the proposed Settlement with E&Y or the UBS Defendants,
as applicable, or why you do not like the request for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement
of expenses. If you are a Bondholder Class Member, you may write to the court and
explain why you do not like the proposed dismissal of claims against Scrushy. You
cannot object to either Settlement, the request for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement
of expenses, or the proposed dismissal of claims against Scrushy, if you exclude
yourself from the Bondholder Class. Objections must be mailed or hand-delivered
so that they are received on or before July 7, 2010 by Lead Counsel
for the Class and counsel for E&Y and/or UBS Defendants as applicable and filed
with the court by that date as explained in Section XV of the Notice and they must
include all of the information set forth therein. If your objection is rejected
by the court, you will be bound by the applicable Settlement(s) and Judgment(s)
just as if you had not objected.
- If you wish to attend the Settlement Hearing in person and speak to the court, you
must ask the court for permission. To do so, you must submit a written statement
noting your intention to appear at the Settlement Hearing so that it is received
on or before July 7, 2010 by the Clerk of the Court, Bondholder Lead Counsel
and Counsel for the applicable Defendants as noted in Section XV of the Notice.
- You may do nothing at all. If you choose this option, you will not share in the
proceeds of the Settlements (unless you are a member of the E&Y and/or UBS Bondholder
Class and you previously filed a Proof of Claim in the HealthSouth Settlement),
but you will be bound by any judgment entered by the court in connection with the
Settlement(s) applicable to your settlement class, and you shall be deemed to have,
and by operation of the applicable Judgment(s) shall have, fully released all of
the Released Claims against the Released Persons covered by the relevant Judgment(s).
- If you are a Bondholder Class Member, you may, if you want, but are not required
to, enter an appearance through counsel of your own choosing at your own expense.
If you do not do so, you will be represented by Bondholder Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel:
Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Cunningham Bounds LLC. You will not
be charged personally for the services of Bondholder Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel.
Further Information
Further information regarding the Bondholder Action, the Notice and how to file
your claim may be obtained by contacting the Claims Administrator or reading through
the Notice and Proof of Claim available through the links on the left side of this
page. You may also contact Lead Counsel for Bondholder Lead Plaintiffs and for the
E&Y Bondholder Class and the UBS Bondholder Class.
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