Shareholders File a Third Lawsuit Against Oakley Inc.

Oakley Inc. has been hit with a third shareholder lawsuit in connection with a recent sales slump that trimmed the sunglass manufacturer’s quarterly profits and sent its stock into a tailspin.

The suit by shareholders Eric Sher, Harold Baron and Daniel O. Eckert alleges that Oakley executives illegally conspired to inflate the value of the company’s stock to bolster proceeds from a $230-million secondary stock offering in June, according to the law firm that filed the allegations.

The suit names Oakley founder and Chairman Jim Jannard, other company officials, and Merrill Lynch and Alex Brown & Sons, two investment banking firms that helped arrange Oakley’s June stock offering. The suit was filed by the law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, which said in a press release that it is one of several firms representing shareholders. The suit seeks class-action status for shareholders who purchased stock in the Irvine-based company between March 22 and Dec. 5.

The suit alleges that Jannard sold 9 million shares and Chief Executive Mike Parnell sold 1 million shares at $23.81 a share in the offering. Figures have been adjusted for an October stock split.

Officials of Irvine-based Oakley were not available on Thursday to comment on the suit, which was filed in Superior Court in Santa Ana.

Oakley’s stock price rocketed to a 52-week high of $27.125 in May before tumbling dramatically in October, along with stocks of other sunglass manufacturers when demand for product slowed.

The company’s stock, which fell to a yearly low of $9.50 per share earlier this week, closed Thursday at $10.50, up 37.5 cents, in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Earlier this month two disgruntled shareholders brought separate Superior Court suits against Oakley. Both suits seek unspecified damages for alleged fraud.