Rochez Bros. v. Rhoades
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
In these appeals both párties seek reversal of district court, 353 F.Supp. 795 orders granting judgment with damages against an individual defendant, Charles R. Rhoades, in an action under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b),
The case arises from the sale of 50% of the issued and outstanding stock of MS&R, Inc. by Rochez Bros., Inc. to Charles R. Rhoades on November 13, 1967, in accordance with an agreement of sale dated September 16, 1967, for the price of $650,000. The interest of Rochez Bros. in MS&R began on July 1, 1964, when Rochez Bros. bought 50,% of the stock of MS&R for $272,500. At the same time Rhoades, who already owned 33%% of the MS&R stock, brought his stock ownership up to 50%. This evenly divided stock ownership continued until November 13, 1967, when Rhoades bought out Rochez Bros., thus becoming the sole owner of the stock of MS&R. During this time, Rhoades was full-time Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President of MS&R. Joseph Rochez, the President of Rochez Bros., was a part-time Vice President of MS&R and a member of its three-man Board of Directors. Rhoades ran the business activities of MS&R on a day-to-day basis, while Rochez was primarily concerned with general policy matters in relation to finance and growth of the company.
As a result of increasing dissension between the two men, founded both in personality differences and business disagreements, both Rochez and Rhoades were authorized by the Board in the spring of 1967 to contact prospective purchasers of the company, but these efforts produced no results. At this time, they also began discussing a buy-sell agreement whereby one of them would buy out the other’s interest. Finally, on September 11, 1967, Rochez Bros. named the price for which it was willing to sell its stock in MS&R to Rhoades, subject
Prior to the September 16 agreement, Rhoades answered a newspaper advertisement placed by one Wingate Royce, of New York City, in January or February of 1967. Royce phoned Rhoades, who told Royce that he was interested in discussing financing for MS&R. Rhoades then sent Royce MS&R financial information and made an appointment for Royce to come to Pittsburgh on April 21, 1967. Royce did visit the MS&R plant on that date and was introduced by Rhoades to Rochez, who declined to hire him to find a purchaser for MS&R. Rhoades, however, did agree to retain Royce to find leads and make introductions to bring about the sale of MS&R. Rhoades never informed Rochez Bros. of the employment of Royce or of the negotiations for the sale of MS&R that followed.
Thereafter, in May 1967, Royce brought MS&R as a potential acquisition to the attention of J. Walter English, of Simmonds Precision Products Co. In May 1967, English visited MS&R after Royce had informed Rhoades that Simmonds was a potential purchaser. In late August or early September 1967, Rhoades and his production assistant went to Hartford to visit a Simmonds plant. Upon arrival at the Hartford airport, Rhoades telephoned his Pittsburgh attorney’s office to learn how the buy-sell negotiations with Rochez Bros. were progressing. They then visited the plant and dined with Simmonds personnel. On the return trip to Pittsburgh, they rode with Geoffrey Simmonds in the latter’s company plane, and Simmonds toured the MS&R plant before continuing to a further destination.
Royce also informed Rhoades of the interest of Carus Chemical Company in acquiring MS&R stock. In the latter part of August 1967, the Carus brothers visited the MS&R plant and told Rhoades that Carus would be interested in purchasing MS&R stock.
Upon conclusion of the agreement of September 16, 1967, for the purchase of the Rochez stock, Rhoades increased his efforts to sell MS&R. On September 18, 1967, he telephoned both Simmonds and Carus and began negotiations that led to offers from both. However, the Carus offer was unattractive to Rhoades since it in effect required him, continuing as director, to earn the purchase price out of future profits of MS&R. The Simmonds offer also fell through, both because Rhoades found it unattractive tax-wise and because Simmonds did not wish to become involved in a possible lawsuit with Rochez Bros. Finally, in April 1968, Rhoades began negotiations with Esterline Corporation, through the initiative of Western Pennsylvania National Bank, which resulted in a formal agreement on July 16, 1968, in which Esterline agreed to pay $4,250,000. in cash and 50,000 shares of Esterline restricted stock for the 100% of MS&R stock then held by Rhoades and two other persons to whom he had sold some shares.
Rochez Bros. brought this action under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities and Exchange Commission with pendent jurisdiction fraud counts under Pennsylvania law.
I. LIABILITY OF RHOADES
Defendant Rhoades contests the district court’s decision on the ground that plaintiff failed to demonstrate the following elements necessary to establish liability under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A. Scienter
The question of whether proof of actual knowledge or willful or reckless disregard of the truth is necessary to establish liability under Rule 10b-5 is an unsettled area of the law. The circuits are divided on this question. Some have adopted a negligence standard. See City National Bank v. Vanderboom, 422 F.2d 221, 229-230 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 399 U.S. 905, 90 S.Ct. 2196, 26 L.Ed.2d 560 (1970); Myzel v. Fields, 386 F.2d 718, 734-735 (8th Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 951, 88 S.Ct. 1043, 19 L.Ed.2d 1143 (1968); Stevens v. Vowell, 343 F.2d 374, 379-380 (10th Cir. 1965); Royal Air Properties, Inc. v. Smith, 312 F.2d 210, 212 (9th Cir. 1962); Ellis v. Carter, 291 F.2d 270, 274 (9th Cir. 1961).
B. Materiality
The test of the materiality of undisclosed or misrepresented facts is basically an objective one—i. e., whether “a reasonable man would attach importance [to them] in determining his choice of action in the transaction in question.” List v. Fashion Park, Inc., 340 F.2d 457 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 811, 86 S.Ct. 23, 15 L.Ed.2d 60 (1965). See also Myzel v. Fields, 386 F.2d 718, 734 (8th Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 951, 88 S.Ct. 1043, 19 L.Ed.2d 1143 (1968). Under this test there is little doubt that information concerning negotiations by one owner of 50% of the stock of a business with potential purchasers is material, for a reasonable man who owned the other 50% of the stock would surely attach importance to that information in deciding whether to sell out to his co-owner. Defendant’s arguments on this point do not directly dispute this reasoning, but rather contest the district court’s finding of those facts held to be material. We must, therefore, review the record to determine if the district court’s finding that defendant was engaged in negotiations with Simmonds and Carus for the sale of MS&R, and that these negotiations had reached a stage where their existence and contents were material, is clearly erroneous. See F.R.Civ.P. 52(a).
There is ample evidence that Rhoades hired Royce to find a purchaser of MS&R and that this fact was concealed from Rochez.
C. Due Care
The cases generally hold that before an insider may claim reliance on a material misrepresentation or nondisclosure, he must fulfill a duty of due care in seeking to ascertain for himself the facts relevant to a transaction. See, e. g., Financial Industrial Fund, Inc. v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 474 F.2d 514 (10th Cir. 1973); Clement A. Evans & Co. v. McAlpine, 434 F.2d 100 (5th Cir. 1970), cert. denied, 402 U.S. 988, 91 S.Ct. 1660, 29 L.Ed.2d 153 (1971); City National Bank v. Vanderboom, 422 F.2d 221 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 399 U.S. 905, 90 S.Ct. 2196, 26 L.Ed.2d 560 (1970). However, the cases also hold that a plaintiff cannot fail in his duty of due care if he lacked any opportunity to detect the fraud. See, e. g., Johns
D. Reliance
Recovery under Rule 10b-5 is sometimes said to require a showing that the party seeking damages actually relied on the misrepresentation or omission of material facts. See, e. g., List v. Fashion Park, Inc., supra at 462 of 340 F.2d. Thus, while the objective test of materiality (see p. 408, supra) provides the basis for the defendant’s duty to disclose, the reliance requirement provides the causal link between the non-disclosure and the loss suffered. However, proof of reliance is not required in all cases under Rule 10b-5. The Supreme Court has recently held:
“Under the circumstances of this case, involving primarily a failure to disclose, positive proof of reliance is not a prerequisite to recovery. All that is necessary is that the facts withheld be material in the sense that a reasonable investor might have considered them important in the making of his decision. See Mills v. Electric Auto-Lite Co., 396 U.S. 375, 384 [90 S.Ct. 616, 621, 24 L.Ed.2d 593] (1970); SEC v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co., 401 F.2d 833., 849 (2d Cir. 1968), cert. denied sub nom. Coates v. SEC, 394 U.S. 976 [89 S.Ct. 1454, 22 L.Ed.2d 756] (1969); 6 L. Loss, Securities Regulation 3876-3880 (1966 Supp. to 2d ed. of Vol. 3); A. Bromberg, Securities Law, Fraud—SEC Rule 10b-5, §§ 2.6 and 8.6 (1967). This obligation to disclose and this withholding of a material fact establish the requisite element of causation in fact. Chasins v. Smith, Barney & Co., 438 F.2d [1167] at 1172 [(2d Cir.)].”
Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 153-154, 92 S.Ct. 1456, 1472, 31 L.Ed.2d 741 (1972).
Defendant stresses a number of facts which he claims show that Rochez would have proceeded to reach the same buy-sell agreement with defendant as he did on September 16, 1967, even if he had known of the negotiations with Simmonds and Carus. First, from earlier negotiations to sell MS&R authorized by the Board of Directors, Rochez knew that Rhoades had valued a 50% interest in MS&R to a possible outside purchaser
E. Conclusion
On the basis of the foregoing analysis, we affirm the decision of the district court as to the liability of defendant Rhoades under Rule 10b-5.
II. THE MEASURE OF DAMAGES
In Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, supra, at 155, 92 S.Ct. at 1473 the Supreme Court held that the correct measure of damages under § 28 of the Securities Exchange Act is the difference between the fair value of what the seller received for his stock and what he would have received had there been no fraudulent conduct, “except for the situation where the defendant received more than the seller’s actual loss. In the latter case damages are the amount of the defendant’s profit.” The Court cited as authority for this latter measure of damages the decision in Janigan v. Taylor, 344 F.2d 781, 786 (1st Cir.), cert.
“On the other hand, if the property is not bought from, but sold to the fraudulent party, future accretions not foreseeable at the time of the transfer even on'the true facts, and hence speculative, are subject to another factor, viz., that they accrued to the fraudulent party. It may, as in the case at bar, be entirely speculative whether, had plaintiffs not sold, the series of fortunate occurrences would have happened in the same way, and to their same profit. However, there can be no speculation but that the defendant actually made the profit and, once it is found that he' acquired the property by fraud, that the profit was the proximate consequence of the fraud, whether foreseeable or not. It is more appropriate to give the defrauded party the benefit even of windfalls than to let the fraudulent party keep them.”
The court in Janigan recognized that there are limits to this principle,
The district court recognized that the measure of damages here is governed by Janigan but held that it would be unjust to award Roehez the full value of the amount realized by Rhoades in the sale of MS&R stock to Esterline, since the increase in the value of MS&R was the result partly of Rhoades’ aggressive and enterprising management ability and partly of the termination of the divided control. The district court, therefore, used its estimate of the value of the Simmonds offer as the basis to determine plaintiff’s damages. The problem with this result is that the facts of this case do not exceed the limits that the First Circuit placed on its damages principle in Janigan. Even if Rhoades’ aggressive management of MS&R could properly be characterized as constituting a special effort outside the regular duties for which he was paid, there is nothing in the record to indicate any such special efforts took place after the signing of the firm commitment on September 16, 1967.
We can well understand the concern expressed by the dissenting opinion regarding the amount of damages. However, after careful consideration of the language of the Supreme Court in Ute, we have concluded that we are bound by
III. DISMISSAL AS TO CORPORATE DEFENDANT MS&R
The district court entered an order after the trial was completed dismissing the action as to MS&R, which order contained this language:
“ . . . the Court being of the opinion that any wrongdoing of defendant Rhoades was on his own account as a stockholder and individual and not in the course or scope of his employment by the said corporate defendant MS&R Inc., or for the account or benefit of said corporate defendant or attributable in any wise to said corporate defendant, said corporate defendant being instead the passive object of such transfers of its stock as were effected through the activities (wrongful or otherwise) of said defendant Rhoades . . . .”
Plaintiff argues that this order of dismissal was erroneous, since the facts on the record establish liability of MS&R under two theories: first, that there was sufficient “participation” by MS&R to make the corporate defendant an aider, abettor, or conspirator with Rhoades; second, that MS&R was a controlling person within the meaning of § 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78t(a), which makes liable a “person” who “controls” one who violates a rule.
It is unnecessary for this court to decide this question at this time, for the district court failed to make findings to support its dismissal as required by Rules 41(b) and 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The opinion and judgment against defendant Rhoades, entered the same day as the order dismissing the action against corporate defendant MS&R, does not satisfy the provisions of Rule 52(a), for the findings of fact contained therein do not relate to and cannot support the conclusion stated by the district court in its order of dismissal.
We therefore will vacate the January 22, 1973 order dismissing the action as to MS&R (Document 72, W.D.Pa., Civil No. 68-1048) and remand so that the district court can make the necessary findings of fact. That part of the January 22, 1973, district court judgment (Document 73, W.D.Pa., Civil No. 68-1048) providing for damages of $402,000. will be vacated and the case will be remanded to the district court for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
. “§ 78j. Manipulative and deceptive devices “It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange—
“(b) To use or employ, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security registered on a national securities exchange or any security not so registered, any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance in contravention of such rules and regulations as the Commission may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors.”
. “Rule I0b-5. Employment of Manipulative and Deceptive Devices
“It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange,
“(1) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud,
“(2) to make any untrue statements of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or
“(3) to engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.”
. The agreement covered the sale by Rochez Bros. to Rhoades of stock in another company as well as the stock of MS&R. Apparently $598,000. represents that portion of the total amount of $650,000., mentioned in the agreement, allocable to such MS&R stock, since the district court used the figure of $598,000. in computing damages.
. The named defendants were Rhoades and MS&R; two other individual defendants who were officers of MS&R were dismissed during the trial and their dismissal is not involved in this appeal.
. The district court held defendant Rhoades liable because of its finding that he failed to disclose material information (with respect to the Simmonds and Carus dealings) before September 16, 1967. It therefore found it unnecessary to decide whether the nondisclosure of material facts between September 16, 1967 (the date of the agreement) and November 13, 1967 (the date of the closing) could give rise to liability.
. For a thorough analysis and criticism of these cases, see the concurring and dissenting opinion of Adams, J., in Kohn v. American Metal Climax, Inc., 458 F.2d 255, 279-288 (3d Cir. 1972).
. The court in Lanza stated that “a plaintiff claiming a violation of Rule 10b-5 who cannot prove that the defendant had actual hnowledge of any misrepresentations and omissions must establish, in order to succeed in his action, that the defendant’s failure to discover the misrepresentations and omissions amounted to a willful, deliberate, or reckless disregard for the truth that is the equivalent of knowledge.” 479 F.2d at 1305. (Emphasis added.) The court therefore refused to hold liable a corporation president who had no knowledge of the material facts that other directors had failed to disclose in the course of certain transactions; his mere negligence in not ascertaining those facts was held not to satisfy the scienter requirement.
. According to a leading scholar, “no 10b-5 decision squarely requires ‘intent to defraud,’ or clearly equivalent phrases.” A. Bromberg, supra, ¶ 8.4(543) at p. 204.175.
. In any case, there appears to be substantial evidence in the record to support an inference that Rhoades’ failure to disclose material facts to Rochez was deliberate. See note 9 infra.
. Defendant argues that his hiring of Royce cannot be characterized as a concealment from or a surprise to Rochez since the latter specifically turned down Royce’s services after having been introduced to him by Rhoades. This argument overlooks several important facts. Royce testified that “[w]hen he [Rhoades] took me by to meet Rochez, he asked me not to tell them what we were talking about” (N.T. 585). In a memorandum the day before Royce’s visit, Rhoades directed that MS&R mail would thenceforth be opened only by MS&R employees and not by Rochez Bros. employees (who shared the same office) (PX-25). Furthermore, Rhoades admitted that he never told anyone from Rochez Bros. about the letter employment agreement with Royce (N.T. 1685). Thus, even if Rochez declined to hire Royce as a finder (as Rhoades testified), it does not relieve Rhoades from the duty of revealing that he had in fact hired Royce in opposition to Roehez’s wishes, as found by the district court.
In its January 22, 1973, order dismissing the action as to corporate defendant MS&R, the district court concluded that any wrongdoing of defendant Rhoades was done on his own account as a stockholder and individual and not in the course or scope of his employment by MS&R. This conclusion implies that the district court believed that Royce was not hired .by MS&R for corporate purposes, but by Rhoades solely for personal matters. Plowever, the court made no specific findings that Royce was or was not employed by MS&R. See p. 20 infra. While this issue is important with respect to the question of the liability of MS&R, it is irrelevant as to Rhoades’ liability, since the district court finding of the hiring of Royce is not clearly erroneous, and whether for private or corporate purposes it was a material fact that Rhoades failed to disclose to Rochez.
. English testified that on this visit to MS&R, the general nature of his conversation with Rhoades was: “Review of the plant, discussion generally of the business, the business potential, Simmonds, its potential. And general body chemistry, meeting to determine whether Charles Rhoades and Simmonds Precision, represented by myself, could get along” (N.T. 1151). English also stated that his next contact with Rhoades in September 1967 was “in furtherance of the negotiations begun in May” (N.T. 1154).
. Rhoades argues that the testimony of Hager (N.T. 1342-44), who was the MS&R production vice-president and who accompanied him on this trip, demonstrates that its purpose was to consult with Simmonds on some production problems they were having. However, although Hager testified that he and Rhoades were asked to advise on a production problem, he also stated that he could not say what the purpose of the trip was (N.T. 1306), although he assumed from “the prior month’s general activity in our plant, that there possibly could be an acquisition interest from the Simmonds’ standpoint.” (N.T. 1307). Furthermore, Rhoades’ telephone call from the Connecticut airport to his attorney in Pittsburgh to find out if Rochez had finally agreed on a buy-sell arrangement, the presence of Mr. Coombs, a lawyer for Simmonds, at the plant and at the subsequent dinner, and Mr. Geoffrey Simmonds’ visit to the MS&R plant after flying back to Pittsburgh in the Simmonds Company plane with Rhoades and Hager, all suggest that the purpose of the visit was to discuss a possible acquisition of MS&R by Simmonds.
. The court found that the MS&R plant used a standard IBM computer. The credibility which it chose to give, or not give, to the testimony of Rhoades, and his witness Mr. Monaco, is a matter within the discretion of the district court as trier of fact.
. Having found that the purpose of the visit of the Carus brothers was not to look at the MS&R computer, the district court could properly assume that the visit had some purpose and could infer that it was to discuss the acquisition of MS&R by Carus from the following facts. Royce testified that he arranged for the Carus brothers to visit Rhoades and that he later talked to Rhoades and advised him that he would not have to pay Royce a commission if a deal was completed with Carus (N.T. 590-91, 593). Hag-er testified that he recalled meeting a number of persons or showing a number of persons around the MS&R plant, probably in the second quarter of 1967, who were “connected witli an organization that had some interest in acquiring MS&R” and among them were persons from Carus Chemical and Simmonds (N.T. 796).
. In addition, we have held that in a suit by shareholders suing because of allegedly misleading statements in a proxy report, “to the extent a reliance factor is required, in the present context it is encompassed by the finding that the misrepresentation was material.” Kohn v. American Metal Climax, Inc., supra at 269 of 458 F.2d.
. The September 29, 1967, letter from Geoffrey Simmonds that Rhoades testified contained the first offer of a purchase price begins by stating that it is to confirm the understanding between Simmonds and Rhoades as to the former’s acquisition of MS&R. Rhoades testified on cross-examination that this was a reference to a conversation of the previous day in which Simmonds told Rhoades that .he had something of interest that he was putting in the mail. This explanation is dubious since the detailed terms laid out in the letter suggest that there had been prior discussions between Simmonds and Rhoades as to those terms. Furthermore, a letter to Rhoades from Coombs, Simmonds’ attorney, dated September 15, enclosed copies of the Simmonds insurance, pension, and disability plans, with a request that Rhoades send to Simmonds eorresponding material of MS&R. Such minor details related to integration of two companies are not normally discussed until negotiations have been conducted with respect to the more substantive matters, such as purchase price.
. The September 15 letter from Coombs to Rhoades, in particular, indicates that the negotiations liad progressed well beyond the point of initial contacts and had reached a rather advanced stage, from which Rochez, had he known of them, might reasonably have concluded that an offer of a purchase price was imminent. This conclusion is supported by the' fact that, even according to Rhoades’ testimony, the first offer of a purchase price came only 13 days after the signing of the firm commitment on September 16, 1967.
. “If an artist acquired paints by fraud and used them in producing a valuable portrait we would not suggest that the defrauded party would be entitled to the portrait, or to the proceeds of its sale.” Janigan v. Taylor, supra at 787.
. The court in Janigan pointed out that there was no evidence that defendant did anything different or worked any harder following the acquisition than he had before, that the company’s improvement was attributable to factors independent of his personal efforts, and that he received a salary for the performance of what were his regular duties. Janigan v. Taylor, supra at 787.
. Indeed, the only factor alluded to in the district court’s opinion affecting the value of MS&R for which Rhoades was responsible was the lucrative Babcock & Wilcox contract which was entered into earlier in 1967.
. Section 20(a) of the Act has been applied to Rule 10b-5 violations in SEC v. First Securities Company of Chicago, 463 F.2d 981 (7th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. McKy v. Hochfelder, 409 U.S. 880, 93 S.Ct. 85, 34 L.Ed.2d 134 (1972) ; and Myzel v. Fields, supra. In First Securities the court held the company liable for the Rule 10b-5 violation of its president under both theories advanced by plaintiff here. The court held that as an employee, the president is “controlled” by the company within the meaning of § 20(a) and that in order for a controlling person to escape liability by showing that it acted in good faith, it must show that some precautionary measures were taken to prevent its employee’s violation. The court also reaffirmed its holding in Buttrey v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 410 F.2d 135, 144 (7th Cir. 1969), that liability predicated on aiding and abetting may be founded on less than actual knowledge and participation in the activity proscribed by section 10 of the Act and Rule 10b-5.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting in part).
I agree that the district court correctly decided the questions of liability. My dissent is limited to the matter of damages. On this issue, all circumstances considered, it seems to me that the district court measured and limited its award of damages in a way that was equitable and proper.
Accordingly, I would affirm judgment in its entirety.
070rehearing
In his petition for rehearing, defendant Rhoades contends that this court’s increase in the amount of' damages awarded plaintiff Rochez Bros. by the district court was unwarranted.
First, Rhoades argues that this court misapplied the damage rules of Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 92 S.Ct. 1456, 31 L.Ed.2d 741 (1972), and Janigan v. Taylor, 344 F.2d 781 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 879, 86 S.Ct. 163, 15 L.Ed.2d 120 (1965), in such a way as to make the result penal. Rhoades points out that neither Affiliated Ute nor Janigan considered what effect a plaintiff’s knowledge of the non-disclosed facts, subsequent to the transaction out of which the 10b-5 violation arose, would have on the time as of which damages are to be measured. According to the record in this case, in February 1968 Rochez received a telephone call from Royce, who informed him that negotiations had been going on with Simmonds, that an offer had been received from Simmonds in the form of stock, and that in Royce’s view, the offer was in excess of $2 million, although the exact amount was not disclosed (N.T. 600-01). Rhoades maintains that while the receipt of such information did not impose any duty on plaintiff to institute suit against him, the “high water mark” of plaintiff’s damages should be fixed at the date he received this information, i. e., February 1968. The consequence of this limitation would be to establish the Simmonds offer as the measure for plaintiff’s damages, since negotiations for the sale of MS&R to Esterline (the eventual purchaser) did not begin until mid-April 1968.
In support of this limitation on the Janigan “benefit of the bargain” rule of damages, Rhoades relies on the decision in Baumel v. Rosen, 412 F.2d 571 (4th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1037, 90 S.Ct. 681, 24 L.Ed.2d 681 (1970). In that case, defendants’ purchases of stock from plaintiffs in August 1959 were found to have been procured through affirmative misrepresentations of the financial condition of the company and under non-disclosure of material incidents in the corporate operations. Plaintiffs first received information indicating that they might have been defrauded sometime in the fall of 1959,
In evaluating the relevance of the Baumel decision to the instant case, it is important to bear in mind that the limitation on the measure of damages there, was, in the words of the Baumel opinion, “[b]eeause of the volatile nature of first-offering stock prices, and in the circumstances of this case . . . . ” 412 F.2d at 576. It is clear from the opinion that the circumstances
However, we must note that subsequent to Baumel the Supreme Court in Ute approved of the Janigan rule of damages in terms that are unequivocal and unqualified. 406 U.S. at 155, 92 S.Ct. 1456, quoted at p. 1473 of the December 21, 1973, opinion of the court, supra. Nothing in that language suggests the sort of limitation applied by the Fourth Circuit in Baumel.
Furthermore, on its facts, the instant case is clearly distinguishable from Baumel. Although Rhoades was able to bargain the price of MS&R up considerably from February 1968 (when Rhoades first learned of the Simmonds offer) to July 16, 1968 (when the agreement to sell to Esterline was signed), the MS&R stock was not of the same highly volatile nature as was the stock in Baumel. More importantly, unlike the plaintiffs in Baumel who waited for three years, Rochez brought this action (on September 11, 1968) within a reasonable time (approximately six months) after first learning that he might have been defrauded. There is no evidence of any intent on the part of Rochez to delay commencing this suit in order to gain windfall profits from the sale of MS&R. On the contrary, Rochez told Royce at the time of their conversation “that he would be perfectly delighted to get together with Mr. Rhoades and me [Royce] and discuss an adjustment and a compromise of the respective interests, and this would leave it up to Mr. Rhoades to make an adjustment and compromise whether he wanted to go through with the [Simmonds] deal or not. If he wanted to go through with the deal, fine. If he didn’t that was fine, too.” (N.T. 601).
Second, Rhoades also argues that there can be no recovery under Section 10(b) of the Act in this case since the trial court found that at the time of the transaction Rochez Bros. received the fair market value fpr the MS&R stock it sold to Rhoades, and hence plaintiff suffered no economic harm. Assuming, without deciding, that the district court’s finding on this point is not clearly erroneous,
Rhoades’ reliance on the conclusion of the district court that the increased value of MS&R was attributable to his own special efforts and that, therefore, Rochez was not entitled to recover the amount of Rhoades’ profits has been considered and rejected in the December 21, 1973, opinion, supra at p. 412.
A majority of the above panel votes to deny the petition for rehearing and joins in this opinion. Circuit Judge HASTIE has no objection to this opinion, but adheres to the views expressed in his December 21, 1973, opinion dissenting in part.
. One of the plaintiffs admitted that shortly after the sale he believed “he had been taken,” while the other plaintiff testified that at Thanksgiving or Christmas of 1959 he had been told that the company “had plans to go public and that the stock was worth a lot of money more than I had received for it.” 412 F.2d at 574.
. This interpretation of the purpose of the limitation of damages in Baumel does not conflict with the court’s fixing, as the cut-off point for evaluating plaintiffs’ prior interest, the time they learned or should have learned of the fraud. It might be argued that it would be more consistent with the goal of discouraging unreasonable delays in commencing suits to set as the time limit the point at which the delay became unreasonable. However, such a rule would burden the courts with the necessity of determining when that point occurred, and such determination would tend to be somewhat arbitrary. Moreover, even if the courts were to establish a definite length of time as a standard for deciding this unreasonable delay issue, such a rule would encourage delays within the time span determined to be reasonable.
. It is irrelevant that in January 1968, Rochez received an offer from Rhoades through an intermediary to sell all of the stock of MS&R back to him at the same price which Rhoades had paid and that this offer was rejected. Nothing in the record indicates that as of January 1968 Rochez was aware of the negotiations between Rhoades and Simmonds and Rhoades and Carus.
. The district court’s finding that the $598,000. that Rochez received for his 50% share in MS&R was the fair market value seems inconsistent with the fact that at the time the agreement of sale was signed on September 16, 1967, Rhoades was already engaged in negotiations with Simmonds that resulted in ' an offer on September 29, 1967, to buy MS&R for roughly $2 million. As one leading scholar has noted :
“There are, of course, difficulties in determining value of securities sold upon material misrepresentation or omission. They are greatest for closely held securities. If there is prompt resale, it provides obvious evidence of ‘true’ value.” A. Bromberg, Securities Law : Fraud, Yol. 3, ¶ 9.1 at p. 228 (1973).
. In Baumel the Fourth Circuit affirmed a finding of the district court that plaintiffs had suffered sufficient economic loss to recover, despite the fact that they sold their stock at a price returning them a profit of 900%. The court’s reasoning was the samo
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ROCHEZ BROS., INC., a Pennsylvania corporation, in No. 73-1257 v. Charles R. RHOADES, in No. 73-1258, and M S & R Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation
- Cited By
- 31 cases
- Status
- Published