SAY GOODBYE TO MINORITY SHAREHOLDER OPPRESSION CLAIMS In Ritchie v. Rupe, the Texas Supreme Court faced the question of whether to recognize a common law cause of action for “minority shareholder oppression.” Despite a substantial history of trial courts and lower appellate courts having concluded that this cause of action exists, the Court refused to recognize
This dispute was between business partners over how to divide up monies received from the sale of oil and gas leases. Our client claimed he was owed $1.1M based on his ownership interest in the selling company, but his business partners felt that he had not contributed enough to the project to earn that much
MINORITY OWNERS’ RIGHTS CONTINUE TO EXPAND Texas courts recognize that majority owners in private companies must deal fairly with their minority owners or face claims for minority shareholder oppression. Texas courts have approved the following as acts of shareholder oppression: malicious oppression of dividends (starving out the little guys), personal use of corporate funds
