Thorne v. Union Pac. Corp.
Thorne v. Union Pac. Corp.
Opinion of the Court
Before the Court are cross-motions for summary judgment filed by Plaintiff John Stephen Thorne, (Dkts. 81, 84, 85),
*63886). Having reviewed the filings, the relevant law, and the factual record, the Court hereby issues the following Order.
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff John Stephen Thorne ("Plaintiff") seeks a declaratory judgment establishing the number, class, and present dollar value of shares of stock he allegedly owns in Union Pacific Corporation ("UPC") or Union Pacific Railroad Company ("UPRR") (collectively, "Defendants"). (Am. Compl., Dkt. 12, at 13). Plaintiff also seeks a declaration of the Court regarding the cumulative dollar amounts of the dividends and interest earned on his shares, if any. (Id. ).
Plaintiff's argument is predicated on his ownership of a stock certificate (the "Certificate") issued by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company ("SPRC") in 1859. (Id. ¶ 17). The Certificate, which bears the number 1656, issued to Mary Key 300 shares of $100 each. (Id. ¶¶ 17-18; Dkt. 12-1). SPRC subsequently underwent several sales, takeovers, and reorganizations. (Am. Compl., Dkt. 12, ¶¶ 19-31; Stip. Facts, Dkt. 56, ¶¶ 19-49, 70-75). Plaintiff maintains that the 300 shares of SPRC stock at issue in this case survived each of those events. (Am. Compl., Dkt. 12, ¶¶ 19-32).
Plaintiff alleges that, at some time between 1874 and 1893, Ms. Key or her son "gifted, sold, or otherwise properly conveyed"
II. LEGAL STANDARD
Summary judgment is appropriate under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure only "if the movant shows there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A dispute is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. ,
The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden of "informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact."
*639Celotex Corp. v. Catrett ,
Once the movant carries its initial burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to establish the existence of a genuine issue for trial. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp. ,
On cross-motions for summary judgment, the court examines each party's motion independently, viewing the evidence and inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. White Buffalo Ventures, LLC v. Univ. of Tex. at Austin ,
III. PLAINTIFF'S PARTIAL MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Plaintiff filed three partial motions for summary judgment: one regarding Defendant's affirmative defenses, (Dkt. 81); one regarding the effect of an 1868 document pertaining to an event referred to herein as the "Hall Sale," (Dkt. 84); and one regarding the import of text found on the back of the Certificate, (Dkt. 85).
Plaintiff's first partial motion for summary judgment seeks to limit Defendants' affirmative defenses to his claims. (First Partial Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 81). Specifically, Plaintiff asks the Court to restrict Defendants' arguments against the validity of Plaintiff's stock to a single argument regarding an 1868 sale of SPRC assets to a group of creditors led by R. B. Hall (the *640"Hall Sale"). (Id. at 1-2; Am. Compl., Dkt. 12, ¶¶ 26-27). Plaintiff argues that he is entitled to this relief because Defendants' "sole stated reason for rejecting Plaintiff's tender of [the Certificate] and request for transfer of Defendant[s'] stock certificates in Plaintiff's name has been their position that [the Hall Sale] destroyed the initial shareholder's equity interest." (Id. at 2). In so arguing, Plaintiff avers that Defendants' refusal to recognize the Certificate "constitutes an ongoing conversion" outside the scope of any permissible qualified refusal. (Id. ).
Several intermediate Texas courts have found that the refusal to recognize rights in corporate stock or issue new stock certificates based on such rights constitutes conversion. See, e.g. , First Nat'l Bank v. South Beaumont Land & Imp. Co. ,
Here, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants "asserted only the 1868 Hall Sale as the basis for their qualified refusal," thereby waiving "all other purported reasons for such refusal." (First Partial Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 81, at 7). Defendants make three arguments in response: first, that the affirmative defense of qualified refusal applies only to a claim for conversion, a claim Plaintiff has not brought; second, that qualified refusal is inapplicable here because Defendants contend they do not possess any of Plaintiff's property; and third, that there is a material fact dispute with respect to whether the Defendants' sole basis for rejecting Plaintiff's tender of the Certificate was that the Hall Sale destroyed the initial shareholder's equity interest. (Resp. First Partial Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 91, at 1).
Because summary judgment is appropriate only when "the movant shows there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law," Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), the Court will consider Defendants' third argument first. Defendants maintain that a dispute exists with respect to whether their sole basis for rejecting Plaintiff's tender of the Certificate and request for the equivalent amount in current stock is that the Hall Sale destroyed the initial shareholder's equity interest in the Certificate. Plaintiff's only evidence is (1) an August 3, 2011 email from UPC in-house counsel Timothy Dunning
For the reasons stated below, see infra Parts IV-V, the Court concludes that Plaintiff's second and third partial motions for summary judgment, (Dkts. 84, 85), are moot. The Court therefore proceeds to an analysis of Defendants' motion.
IV. DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Defendants argue they are entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiff's claims because (1) Plaintiff cannot prove he is the true and rightful owner of the stock interest the Certificate once represented; (2) Plaintiff's claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations; (3) Plaintiff's claims are barred by laches; (4) the stock in question was extinguished at least 147 years ago, if not before, by various corporate transactions, and (5) Plaintiff has no evidence to establish the declaratory judgments requested. (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 86, at 1-7). Given the historical nature of Plaintiff's claims, the Court deems it prudent to begin its analysis with Defendant's second and third arguments: the statute of limitations and laches.
A. Statute of Limitations
The parties in this matter dispute whether the statute of limitations has run. Both agree that the statute of limitations for a stockholder to assert his rights to recover stock and back dividends is generally four years, with claims accruing once a demand is made by the alleged stockholder and the corporation refuses the demand. Cavitt v. Amsler ,
The four-year statute of limitations accrues once a demand is made by the alleged stockholder and the corporation refuses the demand. Here, Plaintiff sent Defendants a demand letter on June 30, 2011, (Dkt. 94-24); Defendants responded on August 3, 2011, (Dkt. 94-25). Because Plaintiff filed this suit on June 29, 2015, he maintains that his action is within the four-year statute of limitations and thereby not barred. (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. 94, at 18). But at a hearing held on the instant motions, Defendants argued that Plaintiff called Union Pacific in 2005 or 2007
The Court is sympathetic to Defendants' argument. If strict adherence to the demand- rejection accrual framework required that the statute of limitations for a shareholder claim could not accrue until the shareholder sent (and the company in question refused) a formal demand letter-regardless of (1) any other knowledge the alleged stockholder might have, and (2) any other communications between the alleged stockholder and the corporation-a shareholder who knew for a certainty that her claims would be refused could still escape the statute of limitations in perpetuity by refraining from tendering a formal demand. Such a result would be antithetical to the principles underlying statutes of limitations in general and Cavitt specifically. That very case, for example, noted that if a corporation's "acts or words or both ... clearly and unequivocally indicate to a stockholder that the corporation will not pay a dividend to him, this would be equivalent to a demand and refusal." Cavitt ,
Defendants, however, provide no evidence that their acts or words clearly and unequivocally indicated to Plaintiff that Union Pacific would refuse his demand. The evidence before the Court indicates only that Plaintiff spoke with a Union Pacific executive in 2005 or 2007 about the potential value of antique certificates:
Q: How many times did you talk to this person?
A: Just one.
Q: What did you tell this person?
A: I just asked if there were old certificates that had value.
Q: I'm sorry. One more time?
A: I asked if there were old certificates that had value. I don't recall the exact conversation, but I had asked him, you know, if people found certificates that had value and things.
Q: What did he say?
A: He said, no, a lot of those went through, you know, bankruptcies, a lot of the old railroads went through bankruptcies and things like that.
Q: Did you talk to him about the certificate at issue in this lawsuit?
*643A: I did not, not specifically.
(Dkt. 94-15, at 209, 220-21). Defendants have therefore not met their burden, and the Court cannot conclude that Plaintiff's claims are time-barred.
B. Laches
Laches is "an equitable remedy that prevents asserting a claim due to the lapse of time." In re Episcopal Sch. of Dallas, Inc. , No. 5:17-493-CV, --- S.W.3d ----, ----,
Here, Defendants argue they are entitled to the protection of the doctrine because "[Plaintiff] and his family slumbered on their rights for more than 80 years." (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 86, at 24). Plaintiff responds that (1) Defendants have failed to prove the required elements, and (2) the Court should not use laches to bar Plaintiff's claim because he filed his case within the statute of limitations. (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. 94, at 21-22).
1. Unreasonable Delay
As noted above, a party seeking the protection of laches must demonstrate that the nonmoving party unreasonably delayed in asserting its rights. In re Laibe ,
Generally, "laches does not bar a plaintiff's suit before the statute of limitations has run unless estoppel or 'extraordinary *644circumstances' are present." Jim Rutherford Invs., Inc. v. Terramar Beach Cmty. Ass'n ,
Here, the Thorne family
The Court concludes that Defendants have provided ample evidence demonstrating that Plaintiff and his family unreasonably *645delayed in asserting their rights. These facts-evidencing a decades-long delay in pursuing claims Plaintiff alleges are worth hundreds of millions of dollars-are exactly the "extraordinary circumstances" contemplated by those courts that have discussed when laches and statutes of limitations may diverge. Defendants have met their burden as to the first element of the laches defense.
2. Good Faith and Detrimental Change in Position
"Unlike statutes of limitations, 'laches is not ... a mere matter of time; but principally a question of the inequity of permitting the claim to be enforced.' " Condom Sense ,
To constitute a defense, the delay must have been such as practically to preclude the court from arriving at a safe conclusion as to the truth of the matters in controversy, and thus make the doing of equity doubtful or impossible, as through loss, or obscuration of evidence of the transaction in issue, or there must have occurred in the meantime a change in conditions that would render it inequitable to enforce the right asserted, or, as commonly phrased, the delay must have worked injury, prejudice or disadvantage to defendant or others adversely interested, or plaintiff must have abandoned or waived his right, or acquiesced in the assertion or operation of the adverse right, or lost his own by estoppel; or sufficient time must have elapsed to create or justify a presumption against the existence or validity of plaintiff's right; or a presumption that if plaintiff was ever possessed of a right, it has been abandoned or waived or has been satisfied, or that in consequence of the delay the adverse party would be inequitably prejudiced by the enforcement of the right asserted.
Brady v. Garrett ,
In the instant case, Defendants have identified a plethora of events that have impaired their ability to defend against Plaintiff's claim. Since 1933,
These facts-some stipulated to by Plaintiff, and others provided by Plaintiff himself during his deposition-amount to far more than the "bare, conclusory allegations" Plaintiff claims. (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. 94, at 23). There is no genuine dispute as to these facts. As a result of the unreasonable delay in bringing suit on the part of Plaintiff and his family, Defendant has lost access to nearly all potential witnesses. Defendants have therefore met their burden with respect to the second element. Cf. Fazakerly v. Fazakerly ,
3. Laches as an Issue for Trial
Plaintiffs finally contend that the Court should not grant Defendants summary judgment based on laches because "laches is an issue to be determined by the fact-finder at the time of trial." (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. 94, at 21). Plaintiff is correct that laches is a "question of fact that is determined by considering all the circumstances in a particular case." (Id. (citing In re Marriage of Stroud ,
V. CONCLUSION
Because the Court finds that Plaintiff's claims are barred by laches, it is unnecessary to consider the other arguments raised in Defendants' motion.
IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. 86), is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's First Partial Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. 81), is DENIED and that Plaintiff's Second and Third Partial *647Motions for Summary Judgment, (Dkts. 84, 85) are DENIED AS MOOT.
IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that all pending deadlines and settings in this matter are VACATED.
Plaintiff filed three partial motions for summary judgment, as discussed in detail below.
Plaintiff's response to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment states that "evidence adduced during discovery has revealed that such conveyance was certainly a gift." (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. 94, at 15).
Texas & Pacific Railway Company ("TPRC") was incorporated by the United States Congress in 1871. (Stip. Facts, Dkt. 56, ¶ 36). SPRC was consolidated into TPRC in the same year. (Id. ¶ 37). The company's name was changed to Texas & Pacific Railway Company in 1872. (Id. ¶ 43).
Plaintiff avers that, while "[i]t is not yet clear ... precisely how the stock was conveyed .... [the conveyance] flowed out of the close friendship between the Keys and the Thornes." (Am. Compl., Dkt. 12, ¶ 41).
T & PRC was merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company ("MPRC") in 1976. (Stip. Facts, Dkt. 56, ¶ 70). MPRC was merged into UPRR in 1977. (Id. ¶¶ 72-75).
The Federal Declaratory Judgment Act,
Mr. Dunning has since died. (Resp. First Partial Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 91, at 5).
The email reads as follows: "In reviewing older correspondence in our files that dates to 1907, I have some more information regarding SPRC. SPRC was subjected to a Sheriff's sale in 1860 and was subjected to another compelled sale to satisfy debts in 1861. In 1868, SPRC was sold to its creditors, R.B. Hall & Associates, merchants from Louisville, Kentucky. The Company suffered another decree of foreclosure in October 1868 for $150,000, and the same shareholders purchased the company again. In 1872, Texas and Pacific acquired SPRC. This information likely can be confirmed in public records. As I indicated on the phone, our records indicate that records were filed in Harrison County, Texas." (Dunning-Bair Email, Dkt. 81-1, at 2).
During the deposition, Plaintiff responded affirmatively to a question asking whether "the lawyer at UP told [him] the Hall purchase in 1868 cut off the interest." (Thorne Dep., Dkt. 81-2, at 5).
The exact date is unclear. (Thorne Dep., Dkt. 94-15, at 209, 220).
Defendants also argue that Plaintiff's claims are time-barred because "his grandfather failed to timely bring suit after he was allegedly gifted the Certificate" and "Mary Key failed to timely bring suit to assert her rights to the Stock." (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 86, at 22-23). But Defendants cite no case law supporting their contention that Plaintiff necessarily steps into the shoes of his predecessors-in-interest for purposes of a statute of limitations analysis; Defendants likewise failed to identify any such law at the hearing on the instant motions. Because the party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of "informing the district court of the basis for its motion," Celotex , 477 U.S. at 323,
While "[t]here is no bright-line rule defining ... estoppel or extraordinary circumstances," Texas courts "have analyzed various fact situations to determine whether the circumstances pleaded justify the application of laches to bar a case when the statute of limitations has not run." Brewer v. Nationsbank of Texas, N.A. ,
While Defendants did not cite law supporting their contention that Plaintiff steps into the shoes of his predecessors-in-interest for purposes of the statute of limitations, the same is not true with respect to laches. See, e.g. , Wilson v. Meredith, Clegg & Hunt ,
While it would not be unreasonable for the Court to begin its analysis prior to this date, the relevant portion of Defendants' motion states that "[t]he Thorne family recognized the potential claim and the alleged right to the Stock before 1933." (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. 86, at 25)
The Court considered Plaintiff's First Partial Motion for Summary Judgment because it sought to limit Defendants' use of a wide range of affirmative defenses, potentially and presumably including laches. Plaintiff's Second and Third Partial Motions for Summary Judgment, however, involve arguments rendered moot by the Court's conclusion that Plaintiff's claims are barred by laches.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John Stephen THORNE v. UNION PACIFIC CORPORATION and Union Pacific Railroad Company
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published