Dasler v. EF Hutton & Co., Inc.

694 F. Supp. 624, 9 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1862, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2651, 1988 WL 88777
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMarch 31, 1988
DocketCiv. 4-85-1250
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 694 F. Supp. 624 (Dasler v. EF Hutton & Co., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dasler v. EF Hutton & Co., Inc., 694 F. Supp. 624, 9 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1862, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2651, 1988 WL 88777 (mnd 1988).

Opinion

ORDER

ROSENBAUM, District Judge.

In this cause, plaintiffs claim the brokerage firm of defendant E.F. Hutton (Hutton), through its brokers, defendant Donald M. Tidlund (Tidlund) and Richard Lund (Lund), while acting as the investment manager of the Cornwall Clinic Profit Sharing Plan (the plan), breached its fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001, et seq., by excessively trading securities in the plan’s account. Plaintiffs seek damages, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §§ 1109 and 1132, for violations of duties imposed on fiduciaries under 29 U.S.C. § 1104. In their amended complaint, plaintiffs further claim defendants “churned” plaintiffs’ account in violation of § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and SEC Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5. 1

Plaintiffs, Dr. H.A. Dasler, Dr. F.L. Whitlark, and Dr. W.R. Byrne (administrators of the Cornwall Clinic, S.C. Profit Sharing Plan and Trust), are residents of Wisconsin. Defendants are residents of *627 Minnesota and New York. The matter in controversy exceeds $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs. The jurisdiction of this Court is properly invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §§ 1109, 1132(a)(2) and (3), 1132(e) and (f); 15 U.S.C. § 78aa; and, 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

The Court has heard and considered all of the evidence presented at trial, as well as the argument, pleadings, and memoranda of each party. This order constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed.R.Civ.P.).

Background

This action was tried before a jury and the Court. When claims within a single action are of both a legal and equitable nature, 2 the legal claim must be tried to a jury first and the equitable claim resolved subsequently. Wright and Miller, 9 Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2305, p. 35 (1971), citing Beacon Theatres, Inc. v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500, 79 S.Ct. 948, 3 L.Ed.2d 988 (1959). Plaintiffs’ Rule 10b-5 claim, therefore, was presented to the jury as finder of fact, and their ERISA claim was tried to the court with the jury sitting in an advisory capacity pursuant to Rule 39(c), Fed.R.Civ.P. 3 , 4

“When an advisory jury is used, the ultimate responsibility for findings of fact and conclusions of law remains with the district court.” Mitchell v. Visser, 529 F.Supp. 1034, 1036 (D.Kansas 1981); see I.C.C. v. Southwest Marketing Association, 315 F.Supp. 805, 807 (N.D.Tex.1970). If the issues tendered are purely equitable, the Court in its discretion may accept or disregard the jury’s verdict. Hargrove v. American Cent. Ins. Co., 125 F.2d 225, 228 (10th Cir.1942).

However, “[w]hen legal and equitable claims are tried together, the right to a jury in the legal action encompasses the issues common to both.” Lincoln v. Board of Regents of Univ. System, 697 F.2d 928, 934 (11th Cir.1983); see McIntosh v. Weinberger, 810 F.2d 1411, 1429 (8th Cir.1987). Thus, to the extent that legal and equitable issues overlap, the jury’s verdict on the legal claim operates as a finding of fact binding on the Court in its disposition of the accompanying equitable claim. 5 See Dybczak v. Tuskegee Institute, 737 F.2d 1524, 1526-27 (11th Cir.1984); see also Lincoln, 697 F.2d at 934; Williams v. City of Valdosta, 689 F.2d 964, 976 n. 11 (11th Cir.1982).

In this action, the jury returned a verdict which responded to several factual issues common to plaintiffs’ Rule 10b-5 claim and their ERISA claim. This Court is constrained to render a judgment on plaintiffs’ ERISA claim which is consistent *628 with the jury’s determination of factual issues common to both claims. 6 See Garza v. City of Omaha, 814 F.2d 553, 557 (8th Cir.1987); see also McIntosh, 810 F.2d at 1429. With this background, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Findings of Fact

1. Plaintiffs, H.A. Dasler, W.R. Byrne, and F.L. Whitlark, are medical doctors who were practicing with the Cornwall Clinic, located in Amery, Wisconsin, during all times relevant to this action.

2. The Cornwall Clinic S.C. Profit Sharing Plan and Trust, established in approximately 1969, was a qualified employee benefit plan under ERISA, established and maintained pursuant to a written instrument (Amendment Restating Cornwall Clinic, S.C. Profit Sharing Plan and Trust in its Entirety, dated 4/27/77 — Exhibit 2, Art. 16.3, p. 35) as required by 29 U.S.C. § 1102.

3. Plaintiffs were administrators of the plan and were named fiduciaries under the terms of the plan instrument and 29 U.S.C. § 1102(a). As named fiduciaries, plaintiffs owed fiduciary duties to the plan’s participants and beneficiaries pursuant to 29 U.S. C. § 1104(a) 7

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694 F. Supp. 624, 9 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1862, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2651, 1988 WL 88777, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dasler-v-ef-hutton-co-inc-mnd-1988.