Armstrong v. Marathon Oil Co.

582 N.E.2d 1104, 64 Ohio App. 3d 753
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 25, 1990
DocketNo. 5-88-25.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 582 N.E.2d 1104 (Armstrong v. Marathon Oil Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armstrong v. Marathon Oil Co., 582 N.E.2d 1104, 64 Ohio App. 3d 753 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

Shaw, Judge.

This action was commenced in the Court of Common Pleas of Hancock County by shareholders of Marathon Oil Company dissenting from the 1982 merger of Marathon and U.S. Steel Corporation. The action was brought, pursuant to R.C. 1701.85, to determine the fair cash value to be paid upon the shares of the dissenting shareholders.

The instant appeal was taken from a judgment entered in the trial court on July 21, 1988 and concerns the issue of interim payments and interest thereon allegedly accruing to certain dissenting shareholders during the pendency of the action to establish fair cash value. Appellant, Frances A. Armstrong, as class representative of the class of dissenting shareholders, assigns the following errors to the judgment:

“I. The trial court erred in the application of Section 1701.85 of the Revised Code and contravened the express order of this court by not awarding class members interim payments upon their legended shares and by not awarding interest upon those interim payments for the time they were withheld.
“II. The failure of the trial court to set class shareholders on the same foundation as named plaintiffs violates the intent of the class action format and deprives class shareholders due process of law.”

R.C. 1701.85(E) provides that, from the time a shareholder gives written demand for payment to him of the fair cash value of the shares to which he is *755 seeking relief, until the dissenting shareholder’s rights and obligations are terminated or the corporation purchases the shares, all other rights, i.e., rights to vote and to receive dividends or distributions, are suspended. However, subsection (E) also provides, inter alia, that, if a dividend or distribution or interest is paid in money on securities issued in exchange for nondissenting shares, an equal amount shall be paid to the dissenting shareholder as a credit upon the fair cash value of their shares.

Subsequent to the commencement of this action, Marathon substituted its shares for U.S. Steel notes and began paying interest thereon of $6.25 per share. Consequently, on March 22, 1983, pursuant to R.C. 1701.85(E), the trial court ordered that named eligible dissenters (those dissenting shareholders who had perfected their demands for fair cash value) be paid the same interest.

In Armstrong v. Marathon Oil Co. (1984), 14 Ohio App.3d 46, 14 OBR 50, 469 N.E.2d 1343, we reversed the trial court’s order refusing to allow maintenance of the dissenter’s suit as a class action. Pursuant to our decision in that case, on June 11, 1984, the trial court certified the class as those persons having complied with the requirements of R.C. 1701.85(A)(2) and who had not filed a petition for fair cash value individually or joined in a proceeding to establish fair cash value.

Subsequently, in Armstrong v. Marathon Oil Co. (Jan. 14, 1986), Hancock App. No. 5-84-9, unreported, 1986 WL 808, we entered judgment finding, inter alia, error in the trial court’s order that certain named dissenting shareholders were ineligible to receive the cash value of their shares and the $6.25 per share interim interest payments because their written demands for payment of fair cash value were ineffective. Our judgment in case No. 5-84-9 was reversed in part by the Supreme Court of Ohio in Armstrong v. Marathon Oil Co. (1987), 32 Ohio St.3d 397, 513 N.E.2d 776. However, that portion of the judgment ordering the participation of named dissenters previously declared by the trial court as ineligible to receive fair cash value or interim interest payments was affirmed by the Supreme Court. The case was remanded to the trial court for a reassessment of fair cash value.

On remand, the trial court, on April 6, 1988, entered judgment establishing the fair cash value of the shares and the interest to be paid thereon. On May 5, 1988, appellant herein filed a timely appeal from the April 1988 judgment, which is presently before this court in case No. 5-88-11.

Two months later, in July 1988, the trial court held a hearing to determine class membership. During the course of that proceeding, appellant asserted that those unnamed shareholders, who were only potential class members prior to the expiration of the election period for opting out of the class and, *756 who had not received interim interest payments during the pendency of the action, were entitled to receive, in addition to fair cash value, an award of interim interest payments as well as imputed interest thereon.

On July 21, 1988, the trial court entered the judgment identifying the members of the class. The judgment entry contains no reference to appellant’s motion for an award of interim payments or imputed interest. On appeal from the July 1988 judgment, appellant contends that the trial court erred in failing to award the requested interim payments and interest thereon. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

We would first note that, contrary to the assertion made in appellant’s first assignment of error, we do not construe our judgment entered in case No. 5-84-9 as a directive to the trial court to award interim payments to the class members who are the subject of the instant appeal. A careful reading of the journal entry and opinion in that case reveals that our ruling as regards, interim payments was dispositive solely of the rights of those named dissenting shareholders whom the trial court had previously declared ineligible to seek the appraisal remedy and receive interim payments by virtue of their purported failure to comply with the requirements of R.C. 1701.85. Moreover, our opinion in case No. 5-84-9 does not reflect that the issue of interim payments for unnamed dissenters was before us in that case.

As a general rule, a trial court loses jurisdiction to take action in a case after an appeal has been taken. See State, ex rel. Continental Cas. Co. of Chicago, v. Birrell (1955), 164 Ohio St. 390, 58 O.O. 187, 131 N.E.2d 388; Sullivan v. Cloud (1939), 62 Ohio App. 462, 16 O.O. 152, 24 N.E.2d 625, and Vavrina v. Greczanik (1974), 40 Ohio App.2d 129, 69 O.O.2d 146, 318 N.E.2d 408. However, as was recognized in Vavrina, supra, at 132, 69 O.O.2d at 147, 318 N.E.2d at 412, “ * * * some courts have held that the trial court retains jurisdiction over issues that are not before the court of appeals, such as collateral issues like contempt.” See, e.g., In re Kurtzhalz (1943), 141 Ohio St. 432, 25 O.O. 574, 48 N.E.2d 657.

As we view R.C. 1701.85, and as is conceded by appellant, the interim payment provision of subsection (E) of the statute is an essential element of the appraisal remedy. Thus, the determination of fair cash value is fundamental to the jurisdiction of the trial court to consider the issue of interim payments.

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Bluebook (online)
582 N.E.2d 1104, 64 Ohio App. 3d 753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armstrong-v-marathon-oil-co-ohioctapp-1990.