When to bring claim of

Please look at my information. I have been in a family business for 12-14 years. The majority stockholder has used a variety of intimidation and actions to keep control of every aspect of the business. He has used "squeeze out and freeze out" tactics to bend every other shareholder to his will. He used company funds to get a loan for a building and property then made sure no other shareholder/employee could have a stake in the property.( he created a 2nd company that owns the building and property) Then had the main family business pay off the loan for the building and property thru rent payments. He also used company funds ,equipment and assets to start a 3rd business and tried to convince us minority shares that we had to invest our free nonpaid time to own part of 3rd business. Also forcing employee/shareholders to work on the building to create a "party rental" space that is mainly use for his 3rd business and personal usage. when any minor shareholder/employee has disagreed with his actions , it leads to verbal abuse, intimidation and usually be fired by him and the locks changed on the building. There has also been many physical altercations thru out the years. There has been fraud and false accounting and other deceptions he has committed. He has lied about what % of stock each of us would owne in the 1st "family" business. For these and several other reasons, I feel I have a great case for breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful termination and other claims.

3 answers  |  asked Feb 26, 2014 10:18 AM [EST]  |  applies to Ohio

Answers (3)

Bruce Elfvin
Your description is very familiar in terms of these types of cases. We have tried these types of cases successfully. Obviously the facts will matter and we would suggest that you gather the written materials and then decide who you want to talk to about this claim.

You can reach Elfvin & Besser at 216.382.2500 or through links on our Website: www.elfvinbesser.com

posted by Bruce Elfvin  |  Feb 27, 2014 09:21 AM [EST]
David Neel
Your question is when to bring a claim. The answer is now. Mr. Klingshirn is an excellent lawyer as are all of the lawyers here, so call now to start mapping out a strategy.

posted by David Neel  |  Feb 26, 2014 12:13 PM [EST]
Neil Klingshirn
Absent an employment agreement that states otherwise, Ohio law provides employee/minority shareholders some protection from discharge by the majority shareholder. The majority shareholder cannot terminate the employee/minority shareholder for a corporate advantage, and must have a legitimate reason. This gives the minority shareholder/employee more protection than an at-will employee, but not a lot more protection.

If the injury resulting from the majority shareholder's actions are to the value of the company, then Ohio lets minority shareholders pursue so-called derivative actions, where the minority shareholder asserts the rights of the corporation, and not individual shareholder or employment rights. In a derivative action, the remedy is to compensate the corporation, not the minority shareholders.

In any case, breach of fiduciary claims are fact intensive. We offer individual, initial consultations to review your situation and to provide particularized advice. Our consultation fee is $200. If you would like to schedule a consultation, call our Office Manager at 330.665.5445, ext. 0.

posted by Neil Klingshirn  |  Feb 26, 2014 10:54 AM [EST]

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