Kingsbury v. Phillips
Kingsbury v. Phillips
Opinion of the Court
Mrs. R. B. Kingsbury and her husband, C. E. Kingsbury, instituted this suit against Marvin Phillips, W. E. Phillips, R. J. Stinnett, and the Lone Star Theater Company. By amendment filed later, W. J. Brown was also made a party defendant. Both the petitions are very voluminous and to some extent confusing, and we shall undertake to state only such portions of it as are necessary to a discussion of the' assignments hereinafter noted.
According to the allegations in the amended petition, Mrs. Kingsbury is the owner of one-half the capital stock of the Lone Star Theater Company, as her separate property, and the other one-half of the stock is owned and controlled by the defendants Marvin and W. E. Phillips, and R. J. Stinnett, who, together with the defendant Brown, have excluded Mrs. Kingsbury from participation in the management of the affairs of the corporation, and have dissipated all of the assets of that company, or have converted the same to their own use and benefit, thus destroying the object for which the corporation was created, and rendering it impossible for the company to resume its business. The defendants, other than the corporation, although often requested by Mrs. Kingsbury, have refused to recognize her as a stockholder, have refused to recognize the legal existence of the corporation, and have refused to have any meetings of the stockholders for the purpose of electing directors or officers, and have employed the assets and business of the corporation exclusively for their own use and benefit. In the petition it was further alleged that C. E. Kingsbury was in ill health and unable per-, sonally to prosecute the suit, and plaintiffs prayed that Mrs. Kingsbury be allowed to prosecute the same; and, further, -that a receiver be appointed to take charge of the assets and affairs of the corporation.
Plaintiffs prayed for a judgment, for the use and benefit of the corporation, for the value of the assets so converted by the defendants. In the alternative, plaintiffs prayed for a judgment in favor of Mrs. Kingsbury for one-half the assets converted, in the event it should be held that the cor-corporation, by reason of its dissolution, could not recover. General demurrers and special exceptions urged by the defendants were sustained and a judgment rendered, which was essentially a dismissal of plaintiffs’ cause, and from those orders the plaintiffs have appealed.
By other assignments of error, complaint is made that the court erred in sustaining special exceptions based upon the contention that plaintiffs could not maintain the suit for the use and benefit of the Lone Star Theater Company. Those assignments are sustained for the reasons given already in our discussion of the merits of the general demurrer.
Judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- KINGSBURY Et Al. v. PHILLIPS Et Al.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published