203510P.pdf   10/18/2021  Police Officers Pension Fund  v.  Meredith Corporation
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  20-3510
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Central   
   [PUBLISHED] [Gruender, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Stras, Circuit 
   Judge] 
   Civil case - Securities Fraud. The district court did not err in 
   dismissing this action for failure to state a claim; 137 of the 138 
   statements in the amended complaint could not serve as the basis for 
   Section 10(b) liability as they were either (1) clearly statements 
   identified as forward looking and accompanied by meaningful cautionary 
   statements, (2) corporate puffery, or (3) forward-looking statements that 
   the complaint's allegations did not imply by strong inference were made 
   with actual knowledge of their falsity; the remaining statement, while 
   coming closer to giving the Fund a 10(b) claim falls short as the 
   confidential former employee's allegation on which it is based does not 
   give rise to a strong inference of severe recklessness; as a result, the 
   complaint fails to satisfy the heightened pleading standards with respect 
   to the misrepresentation and mental-state requirements of Sec. 10(b) 
   liability; as the Fund's Sec. 20(b) claim was derivative of its Sec. 10(b) 
   claim, it, too, was properly dismissed; reviewing the issue of futility de 
   novo, the district court did not err in denying leave to amend the 
   complaint.