Skip to Main Content.
Site navigation
Fidelity.com Home
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log In
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log Out
  • Accounts & Trade
    • Portfolio Log In Required
    • Portfolio
    • AccountPositions Log In Required
    • AccountPositions
    • Trade Log In Required
    • Trade
    • Trading Dashboard Log In Required
    • Trading Dashboard Log In Required
    • Active Trader Pro
    • Transfers
    • Cash Management Log In Required
    • Cash Management
    • Bill Pay Log In Required
    • Bill Pay
    • Full View Log In Required
    • Full View
    • Security Settings Log In Required
    • Security Settings
    • Account Features Log In Required
    • Account Features
    • Statements Log In Required
    • Statements
    • Fidelity Alternative Investments Program Log In Required
    • Tax Forms & Information
    • Retirement Distributions Log In Required
    • Fidelity Rewards+registered trademark Log In Required
    • Fidelity Rewards+registered trademark Log In Required
    • New Account Checklist Log In Required
    • Lending Solutions-Line of Credit Log In Required
    • Refer a Friend
  • Planning & Advice
    • What We Offer
    • Build Your Plan
    • My Goals
    • Financial Basics
    • Building Savings
    • Robo Investing Plus Financial Advice
    • Wealth Management
    • Find an advisor
    • Retirement
    • Life Events
    • Saving & Investing for a Child
    • Charitable Giving
    • Philanthropic Consulting
  • News & Research
    • News
    • Wealth Management Insights
    • Watch List Log In Required
    • Quotes
    • Quotes
    • Alerts Log In Required
    • Mutual Funds
    • Stocks
    • Fixed Income, Bonds & CDs
    • ETFs
    • Options
    • Markets & Sectors
    • IPOs
    • Annuities
    • Learning Center
    • Notebook
    • Notebook
  • Investment Products
    • Mutual Funds
    • Retirement & IRAs
    • Stocks and Trading
    • Crypto
    • Direct Indexing
    • Fixed Income, Bonds & CDs
    • ETFs
    • Options
    • Sustainable Investing
    • Cash Management & Credit Cards
    • Managed Accounts
    • 529 College Savings
    • Health Savings Accounts
    • Annuities
    • Life Insurance & Long Term Care
  • Why Fidelity
    • The Fidelity Advantage
    • Planning & Advice
    • Trading
    • Straightforward Pricing
    • Insights & Tools
    • Security & Protection
    • Marketplace Solutions
    • About Fidelity
    • Careers
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log In
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log Out
Content and data provided by various third parties and Fidelity − Terms of Use
  • Research >
  • Stocks >
  • News & Events >

Stock Details


  • Snapshot
  • Detailed Quote
  • Advanced Chart &
    Technical Analysis Opens in New Window
  • News & Events
  • Compare
  • Analyst Opinions
  • Research Reports
  • Key Statistics
  • Earnings
  • Dividends
  • Ownership & Insiders
  • Financial Statements
  • SEC Filings

RELATED RESOURCES

  • Stock Research Overview
  • Stock Screeners
  • Markets & Sectors
  • Fidelity Learning Center Opens in New Window
Print Format
Change Text Size:
  • Default text sizeA
  • Larger text sizeA
  • Largest text sizeA

Cisco wins reversal of $2.75 bln damages award because judge's wife owned stock

BY Reuters
— 9:49 AM ET 06/23/2022

By Jonathan Stempel

June 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday threw out a more than $2.75 billion award against Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) , saying the trial judge should have disqualified himself after learning that his wife owned Cisco (CSCO) stock.

The 3-0 decision by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals was also a defeat for Centripetal Networks Inc, a Virginia company that had sued Cisco (CSCO) for damages and royalties for allegedly copying five cybersecurity patents.

The trial judge, U.S. District Judge Henry Morgan in Norfolk, Virginia, found Cisco (CSCO) liable for patent infringement in October 2020, two months after learning that his wife owned 100 Cisco (CSCO) shares worth $4,688.

Morgan later put the shares in a blind trust, and told the parties that the shares "did not and could not have influenced" his handling of the case.

But the Washington, D.C.-based appeals court said a blind trust was not the same as selling the shares, and it did not matter that San Jose, California-based Cisco (CSCO) had lost.

The court ordered the case reassigned to another judge, because letting Morgan stay on risked undermining public confidence in the judicial process.

"It is seriously inimical to the credibility of the judiciary for a judge to preside over a case in which he has a known financial interest in one of the parties and for courts to allow those rulings to stand," Circuit Judge Timothy Dyk wrote.

Jonathan Rogers, Centripetal's chief operating officer, in a statement said the Herndon, Virginia-based company "will continue to fight to protect its rights."

Cisco (CSCO) and its lawyers declined to comment.

Morgan had ruled for Centripetal after a non-jury trial in May and June 2020.

Judicial independence attracted renewed attention last year after the Wall Street Journal said 131 federal judges violated federal law by hearing 685 lawsuits since 2010 involving companies where they or their families owned stock.

"The judiciary takes this matter seriously," U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his 2021 year-end report. "We expect judges to adhere to the highest standards, and those judges violated an ethics rule." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington Editing by David Evans and Matthew Lewis)

Copyright © Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

More CSCO News

  • Cisco wins reversal of $2.75 billion damages award because judge's wife owned stock
    Reuters - 9:41 AM ET 06/23/2022
  • US court throws out big damages award against Cisco
    Reuters - 9:31 AM ET 06/23/2022
  • Pharrell Williams' Non-Profit YELLOW and Cisco Unite to Help Reimagine Education
    PR Newswire - 11:30 AM ET 06/15/2022
Fidelity Investments. Copyright 1998–2022 FMR LLC. 
All rights reserved. 

  • Terms of Use|
  • Privacy|
  • Security|
  • Site Map 
Close