Judge tosses lawsuit against Oracle dating from dot-com era

Judge tosses long-running lawsuit against Oracle

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has thrown out a long-running lawsuit accusing Oracle Corp. of misleading investors about the company’s health before the tech meltdown of 2001 whacked its sales and stock price.

The lawsuit, filed eight years ago, alleges the business software company wasn’t straight with investors about how badly the dot-com bust was hurting business, and that insiders knew deals were collapsing but stood behind a rosy outlook.

Judge Susan Illston in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California tossed the lawsuit Tuesday.

She ruled the plaintiffs didn’t prove that Oracle and CEO Larry Ellison had any early signals that the company was going to miss its forecasts.