Opinion ID: 759209
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: False reports

Text: 25 We must first determine whether plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that Western Sugar made false reports about the finances, management, or activities of associations of producers or handlers under § 2303(e), when they alleged that Western Sugar conducted cossette tests on the 1985-1995 crops contrary to the standards established by the U.S.D.A. and reported to the growers false results and PD determinations. Appellant's App. at 48 (Complaint p 73(a)). The complaint asserted that Western Sugar massaged cossette records and tampered with scales, Appellant's App. at 10 (Complaint p 16(c)), and that the cossette samples it used were adulterated with water and other debris. Plaintiffs then asserted that those adulterated cossette samples were used to calculate inaccurate (i.e. falsely high) PD measurements, which Western Sugar, a handler, reported to plaintiffs. 26 Initially, we note that we could read § 2303(e) to prohibit only false reports about third parties, not false reports by a handler about its own activities. However, it is not clear that such an interpretation is the only permissible one, so we assume the statute reaches a handler's false reports about itself. We must then consider whether Western Sugar's provision of inaccurate PD measurements to plaintiffs constituted the making of false reports under § 2303(e). To the extent the PD measurements provided by Western Sugar were based upon faulty or incorrect underlying data or materials (the adulterated cossette samples), we agree that, for purposes of dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged a false report under § 2303(e). 27