Professional Documents
Culture Documents
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
2d 1223
4. The court erred in allowing an amendment to the complaint at the close of all
evidence and further erred in submitting such alleged new claim through a
prejudicial form of verdict.
In early 1962, defendant Empire Petroleum Company was the sole owner of
Mutual Supply Company and American Industries, Inc. Empire also owned 43
percent of the stock in Inland Development Corp. with the rest distributed
among 1400 public stockholders. Both of the wholly-owned subsidiaries were
apparently in serious financial trouble and had negligible assets. Inland
Development Corp., on the other hand, owned assets worth approximately one
million dollars.
10
During June and July of 1962, Empire sold Mutual to American and then a
merger between Inland and American was consummated, with American as the
survivor. American subsequently lost over $318,000 during the next three years
in attempting to operate Mutual.
11
The consent of Inland's public stockholders to the 1962 merger was obtained
through the use of proxy solicitations which failed to disclose, among other
things, that American had issued $259,000 in interest-bearing notes to Empire
in payment for Mutual, that Mutual was a losing operation, and that Inland's
assets were expected to pay off the substantial debts of Mutual.
12
The $259,000 in notes, representing the purchase price of Mutual, was canceled
12
prior to trial.
I. Statute of Limitations
13
This issue was considered by both court and jury, the court determining the
actions to be not barred as a matter of law, 286 F.Supp. 809, 813, and the jury
specifically finding, under proper instructions, that the action was not barred in
fact. We hold the record to support both determinations.
14
15
Plaintiff concedes that this suit was not brought within three years after the
1962 merger2 but contends that the statute of limitations was tolled until 1965
because he did not know about, nor could he reasonably have discovered, the
fraud. Defendant, on the other hand, argues that at the time of the 1962 merger
plaintiff knew, or by the exercise of due diligence, could have discovered the
fraudulent nature of the merger.
16
17
18
19
In accord with this standard we need only concern ourselves with the
information plaintiff had prior to March 23, 1963, which is three years prior to
filing of this suit. Only if plaintiff had sufficient notice before that date, will the
statute of limitations be a bar. The most directly relevant information then
available to plaintiff was the proxy material sent to him in relation to the
merger between Inland and American. This consisted of a letter signed by
defendant Stone and mailed to Inland's stockholders giving some explanation of
the proposed merger, a copy of the merger agreement, and a proxy card. This
material, taken alone, was clearly inadequate to have aroused a reasonable
suspicion. No disclosure was made of the financial condition of either
company, and although the previous sale of Mutual to American was
mentioned, no details were given. In addition, defendant falsely stated in the
letter that Mutual was operating a service station in the Denver area when he
knew that this enterprise had recently been abandoned.
20
The other major source of information was the 1961 Empire Annual Report,
which was sent to plaintiff as a stockholder of Empire. Note 3B of that report
states that Empire's investment in American had been reduced on the basis of
appraisal to $34,800. From this plaintiff could have inferred that American was
virtually a "shell" corporation, at least before its subsequent purchase of
Mutual. The report also listed several commitments Empire had made to
guarantee certain long-term debts of Mutual. From this, plaintiff could have
inferred that American might be "stuck" with paying these debts if Mutual
defaulted. However, in light of the glowing letter recommending the AmericanInland merger, plaintiff could reasonably be led to believe that Mutual was
making money and could pay its debts.
21
Defendants additionally stress plaintiff's past connections with the oil business
and Empire, his continuing interest as a stockholder, and his admitted concern
over the merger of Inland and American. Although plaintiff had been sales
manager, officer, and director of Empire, he left the company in 1957 and has
not been significantly associated with it since then except as a stockholder. As a
stockholder of Empire and Inland, plaintiff received the normal operating
reports mailed by the two companies, which he studied and retained. We have
already detailed the information contained in this material that was relevant to
the 1962 merger. Plaintiff's testimony does indicate that he had some doubt
about the 1962 merger, but a close examination shows only a feeling that the
merger would accomplish little, if anything, and a subjective hesitation as to
whether it was good business practice.
22
23
We hold that the evidence does not conclusively demonstrate that plaintiff
knew or reasonably should have known of the fraud prior to March 23, 1963.
At the very most, the evidence raises a factual issue, and since it was properly
given to the jury and decided adverse to defendants, the jury's determination is
binding. See Schillner v. H. Vaughan Clarke & Co., 2 Cir., 134 F.2d 875.
II. Plaintiff's Standing as a Shareholder
24
Fed.R.Civ.P. 23.1 states the prerequisites that plaintiff must comply with to
bring a derivative action. Rule 23.1(1) requires that plaintiff be "a shareholder
or member at the time of the transaction of which he complains or that his share
or membership thereafter devolved on him by operation of law * * *." Although
the rule does not expressly state that plaintiff must be a shareholder or member
at the time the suit is brought, it does imply that since it deals with actions
brought by "one or more shareholders or members."
25
26
27
Included among the requirements for pleading a derivative action under Rule
23.1 is the necessity of setting forth the efforts of the plaintiff, or the reasons
for making no effort, to obtain intracorporate relief for the action he desires. In
the case at bar, plaintiff admittedly made no effort to approach the directors but
did set forth reasons for not so doing. The allegations may, of course, become
the subject of factual dispute (as here) but the issue remains one for the court
and its determination lies within the sound discretion of the court. Courts have
generally been lenient in excusing demand. See Meltzer v. Atlantic Research
Corp., 4 Cir., 330 F.2d 946.
28
The trial court here held, prior to trial, that a derivative action was the only
effective method of litigating plaintiff's claims and that demand was excused.
We are in complete accord with this ruling for the reasons set forth in the trial
court's memorandum decision, 286 F.Supp. 809, 813-815, and we find nothing
in the trial record that would indicate an abuse of discretion.
IV. The Amendment to the Complaint
29
Defendants next contend that the trial court abused its discretion by allowing an
amendment to the complaint to be made after the close of all evidence. The
amendment relates to plaintiff's First Claim, which was based on a rather
extensive statement of allegations. Basically, however, plaintiff charged
These statements in the body of the complaint were clearly adequate to base a
claim for damages upon the losses American suffered in running Mutual. In the
subsequent prayer for relief, however, no such claim for damages was
presented. Instead, plaintiff based his claim on the purchase price of Mutual,
asking for $259,000 compensatory damages or, in the alternative, for the
cancellation of the indebtedness owed by American to Empire in connection
with the Mutual purchase.
31
During the trial it was discovered that the indebtedness, representing the
purchase price of Mutual, had already been canceled. Subsequently the court
allowed plaintiff to abandon a claim for damages based on the purchase price
of Mutual and to assert one for damages based on the losses sustained by
American in operating Mutual. The jury returned a verdict of $10,000 on the
First Claim and the court, after reconsidering the matter, upheld the
amendment. The reasons given by the court for allowing the amendment are
essentially that the allegations of the complaint described quite adequately the
losses suffered by American in running Mutual and that the evidence
thoroughly explored into these losses and into the transactions connected with
them.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(b) provides:
32
When issues not raised by the pleadings are tried by express or implied consent
of the parties, they shall be treated in all respects as if they had been raised in
the pleadings. Such amendment of the pleadings as may be necessary to cause
them to conform to the evidence and to raise these issues may be made upon
motion of any party at any time * * *.
33
The test for allowing an amendment under Rule 15(b) to conform pleadings to
issues impliedly tried is whether the opposing party "would be prejudiced by
the implied amendment, i. e., whether he had a fair opportunity to defend and
whether he could offer any additional evidence if the case were to be retried on
Applying the above test to the circumstances of the instant case, we conclude
that there was no abuse of discretion in granting the amendment. The question
of Mutual's operating losses had always constituted a large part of plaintiff's
cause of action, even prior to the contested amendment. The basic issues
connected with the First Claim were whether the losses suffered by American
in managing Mutual were expected by the defendants, whether there was a
fraudulent scheme to shift these losses away from Empire via the sale of
Mutual to American and the merger of American and Inland, and whether there
was a nondisclosure of these material facts to the public stockholders of Inland.
35
The record reveals that the plaintiff presented substantial evidence on the losses
suffered by American in running Mutual and that defendant had an ample
opportunity to rebut such evidence within the context of the above issues.
36
37
V. Punitive Damages
38
As we have indicated, the jury awarded $5,000 punitive damages against the
defendant Stone. The trial court upheld the award, 302 F.Supp. 647, thus
apparently premising a conflict between district courts within the circuit. See
Reynolds v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co., D.Utah, 309 F.Supp. 548. Other courts
are not in agreement as to whether punitive damages are allowable in civil
action implied under the general anti-fraud provisions of Rule 10b-5.4
Opposing punitive damages have been Globus v. Law Research Serv., Inc., 2
Cir., 418 F.2d 1276, cert. denied, 397 U. S. 913, 90 S.Ct. 913, 25 L.Ed.2d 93;
Baumel v. Rosen, 4 Cir., 412 F.2d 571, 576 (dictum), cert. denied, 396 U.S.
1037, 90 S.Ct. 681, 688, 24 L.Ed.2d 681; Green v. Wolf Corp., 2 Cir., 406 F.2d
291, 302-303, cert. denied, Troster, Singer & Co. v. Green, 395 U.S. 977, 89
S.Ct. 2131, 23 L.Ed.2d 766; Myzel v. Fields, 8 Cir., 386 F.2d 718, 748
(dictum), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 951, 88 S.Ct. 1043, 19 L.Ed.2d 1143; Pappas v.
Moss, D.N.J., 257 F.Supp. 345, 364, rev'd on other grounds, 3 Cir., 393 F.2d
865; Mills v. Sarjem Corp., D.N.J., 133 F.Supp. 753, 770. Allowing punitive
damages have been Hecht v. Harris, Upham & Co., N. D.Cal., 283 F.Supp. 417,
444-445 (dictum); Nagel v. Prescott & Co., N.D. Ohio, 36 F.R.D. 445, 449
(dictum). In addition, numerous commentators have written on the subject. See,
e. g., Coffey, Post-Acquisition Relief, The Review of Securities Regulation,
Vol. 3, No. 11, pp. 907-11 (1970); Ruder, Damages in Securities Cases, The
Review of Securities Regulation, Vol. 2, No. 20, pp. 817-21 (1969); Comment,
Punitive Damages in Implied Private Actions for Fraud Under the Securities
Laws, 55 Cornell L.Rev. 646 (1970).
39
Neither the express wording of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 nor the
congressional history offer any real solution. Section 28(a) limits recovery
"under the provisions of this chapter" to "actual damages." Some courts argue
that this section limits recovery in an implied action under Rule 10b-5. See, e.
g., Green v. Wolf Corp., supra, 406 F.2d at 302-303. Others conclude that
"under the provisions of this chapter" refers only to actions expressly created by
the Act and not to implied remedies. See, e. g., Hecht v. Harris, Upham & Co.,
supra, 283 F.Supp. at 444-445. There is a further argument that section 28(a)
was intended solely to prevent "double recovery" by plaintiffs bringing separate
actions for state common-law fraud and for violation of federal law. See 3 L.
Loss, Securities Regulation 1474, 1624, 1793-94 (2d ed. 1961). The legislative
history offers nothing additional, the relevant passage reading: "This subsection
reserves rights and remedies existing outside of those provided in the act, but
limits the total amount recoverable to the amount of actual damages."
H.R.Rep.No.1383, 73rd Cong., 2d Sess. 28 (1934). Absent a clear answer from
the Act itself, we must base our holding upon an analysis of the policies
Punitive damages serve the purposes of deterrence and retribution against the
individual defendant and in addition provide an incentive for individuals to
bring private actions when public officials cannot effectively police the field.
See W. Prosser, Torts 2, at 9-11 (3d ed. 1964). This latter point could be
especially important since private enforcement of the security laws is necessary
due to the limited resources of the SEC. See, e. g., Bernfeld, Class Actions and
Federal Securities Laws, 55 Cornell L. Rev. 78 (1969). Although enforcement
of the security laws would obviously be strengthened to some extent by the
addition of punitive damages, the question is whether the benefits outweigh the
potential problems.
41
Arguments have been made that the available means of enforcement are
already adequate. See Globus v. Law Research Serv., Inc., supra, 418 F.2d at
1285. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates the antifraud
provisions of the 1934 Act is subject to a maximum fine of $10,000 and/or two
years in prison. 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Furthermore, there is the threat of
suspension of registrations, suspension of trading, or expulsion from a national
securities exchange. 15 U.S.C. 78o(b) (5)-(7), 78s(a). Besides these express
deterrents, there is the nebulous social stigma of being branded a knowing
violator of the law.
42
43
44
44
45
It is also argued that punitive damages are inappropriate, at least as used against
publicly owned corporations, because the burden would ultimately fall on
innocent stockholders. See Green v. Wolf Corp., supra, 406 F.2d at 303. This
may be adequate justification for denying punitive damages against public
corporations, but the argument is not valid when an individual defendant is
involved, as in the instant case.
46
A more serious hurdle than the above problems is how to control the overall
burden of punitive damages against a single defendant for a securities fraud
violation when claims may be brought in more than one court. If juries in
several lawsuits are able to assess punitive damages against the same defendant
for the same transaction, there is a danger of overkill.
47
All actions under Rule 10b-5 must be brought in the federal courts, 15 U.S.C.
78aa, and thus there is the possibility that pending actions may be consolidated
in a central district pursuant to 28 U.S. C. 1404(a) and that all potential claims
will be litigated in a single trial by means of the class action or derivative suit.
These procedural devices may not always be appropriate, however, and there is
no chance of attaining a single federal forum for actions that may be brought in
the state courts under section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and for
common-law fraud. 15 U.S.C. 77v.
48
In dealing with possible multiple actions, it does not seem fair or practicable to
limit punitive recoveries to an indeterminate number of first-comers, leaving it
to some unascertained court to set the limit. See Roginsky v. RichardsonMerrell, Inc., 2 Cir., 378 F.2d 832, 839. As an alternative, it has been suggested
that only the first jury should award punitive damages and that such damages
should be paid into an escrow fund for the benefit of all plaintiffs who prove
their claims within the period of the statute of limitations. See 55 Cornell
L.Rev. at 657. This unprecedented theory is little more than academically
interesting.
49
50
The case is remanded to the district court with directions to vacate the judgment
against defendant Stone for punitive damages and is in all other respects
affirmed.
Notes:
*
Judge Hickey, since deceased, heard the arguments in this case but did not
participate in this decision
In each regard see 286 F.Supp. 809; 300 F.Supp. 834; 302 F.Supp. 647
All of the claims submitted to the jury involved transactions occurring between
January 29 and July 31, 1962. Suit on these claims was not brought until March
23, 1966
The court below erroneously relied upon Colorado law in determining that the
statute of limitations was tolled but since we reach the same conclusion
applying federal law, we hold that this was harmless error
We shall also consider the issue in relation to section 17(a) of the Securities Act
of 1933 since the courts have generally "endeavored to treat the '33 and '34
Actsin pari materia and to construe them as a single comprehensive scheme of
regulation." Globus v. Law Research Serv., Inc., 2 Cir., 418 F.2d 1276, 1286.
And we approach the problem in the firm belief that it would be most
undesirable to establish a rule that would have less than broad application. An
ad hoc consideration of the varying types of cases springing from Rule 10b-5
would lead to great and predictable confusion in the law.
This statement must be qualifiedSee, Snyder v. Harris, 394 U.S. 332, 89 S.Ct.
1053, 22 L.Ed. 319.