Suit Against Homestore Ex-Officers to Proceed

Two former officers at Homestore Inc., an online home-listings company in Westlake Village, lost a bid to delay their depositions and trial in a shareholder lawsuit. They had sought the delay on the grounds that their testimony might be used in a government investigation.

Former Homestore Chairman Stuart Wolff and Peter Tafeen, the company’s former head of business affairs, contended that they might have to invoke their 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination during testimony for the investor suit brought by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle ruled that although Wolff and Tafeen’s defense in the civil case was likely to be harmed if they invoked the 5th Amendment, an indefinite stay of proceedings would cause greater harm to shareholders and codefendant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The shareholder suit is set for trial June 14.