A New York federal judge Thursday denied summary judgement in a case filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against AT&T, Inc. (AT&T) and company executives Christopher C. Womack, Kent D. Evans and Michael J. Black. Judge Paul A. Engelmeyer denied both parties’ motions for summary judgment and specifically found “overwhelming evidence, documentary and testimonial, on which a jury could find that” that the SEC’s allegations are true.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that in March and April of 2016 AT&T “embarked on a campaign to selectively disclose MNPI [material nonpublic information] to analysts at 20 Wall Street firms.” This is a violation of the SEC’s fair disclosure regulations, which “addresses the selective disclosure of information by publicly traded companies and other issuers.”

Womack, Evans and Black are charged with aiding and abetting AT&T’s violations through their alleged selective disclosure of MNPI to research analysts. In their roles, all three executives “were privy to nonpublic financial performance information about AT&T.”