A group of News Corp. shareholders have filed an amended complaint in a Delaware court, arguing that the British phone hacking scandal was part of a pattern of behavior that extended to the U.S. as well.
The amended suit, first filed in March by a shareholder group led by Amalgamated Bank, the New Orleans Employees' Retirement System and Central Laborers Pension Fund, points to court judgments for privacy breaches against News Corp. U.S. subsidiaries News America Marketing and NDS.
"[O]ur new complaint shows that the illicit phone hacking and subsequent cover-ups at News of the World were part of a much broader, historic pattern," said shareholder attorney Jay Eisenhofer in a statement.
The shareholders also take issue with a News Corp. investigation of phone hacking at its shuttered News of the World tabloid, calling it a "rubber stamp."
Legislators in the U.S. called for investigations back when the scandal broke, including into whether the company's hacking activities in the UK extended to the U.S. or violate U.S. laws, given the fact that it is incorporated in the U.S. and there are laws against bribing other governments. But the issue has not gotten much attention lately as Congress focuses on the deficit and debt-reduction efforts.
A News Corp. spokesman had no comment on the filing.
