Hutchinson v. Lawrence

67 How. Pr. 38
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1884
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 67 How. Pr. 38 (Hutchinson v. Lawrence) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hutchinson v. Lawrence, 67 How. Pr. 38 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1884).

Opinion

Lawrence, J.

— It was held by the general term of the court of common pleas, in the case of White agt. Brownell (2 Daly, 329), that as the privilege of membership of a voluntary unincorporated association is not conferred by the sovereign power, but is created solely by the organization itself, courts of law cannot compel the admission of an applicant for membership, nor interfere to restore to membership one who has been expelled for non-compliance with the conditions upon which membership is made to depend; that the members of such an association are bound by its rules, when not in conflict with the law of the land, and that the courts can interfere no .further than to hold the association to a fair and honest administration of those rules; also that, therefore, to warrant the granting of an injunction to restrain the officers of a voluntary unincorporated association from carrying [40]*40into effect a resolution or vote suspending a member from the privileges of the association it must appear that the suspension was in violation of the constitution, rules or by-laws, for unless they were violated by the proceedings against him he could have no ground of complaint. It was also held by the special term of this court, in the case of Olery agt. Brown (51 How. Pr., 92), that where there is open to an expelled member of. a voluntary association a remedy tinder its constitution and laws for a review of the proceedings for his expulsion, and, in case of error, for his restoration, and the association is not a partnership, equity will not interfere.

The Hew York Stock Exchange is an unincorporated voluntary association, but the seats therein are worth in cash, as shown by the affidavits in this case, at least $30,000, and the privileges attaching to membership in the board are of great value. The twentieth article of the constitution provides as follows:

Members guilty of obvious fraud: Should any member be guilty of obvious fraud, of which the governing committee shall be the judge, he shall, upon conviction thereof by a vote of two-thirds of said committee present, be declared by the members to be expelled, and his membership shall escheat to the exchange.”

By the second article of the constitution the government of the exchange is vested in the governing committee, composed of the president and treasurer of the exchange and of forty members elected as therein provided. The plaintiff in this case claims that he has been illegally and unfairly expelled from the stock exchange, and he has obtained an injunction that the said exchange, and the president and officers thereof, show cause why during the pendency of this action, and until final judgment is entered therein, they should not be enjoined and restrained from excluding the plaintiff from the said exchange, and, from asserting against him the resolution of expulsion passed upon him-, and from interfering with the exercise and enjoyment by him of his rights and privileges as [41]*41a member of the said exchange, and with the transaction by him of his business in the said exchange as a member thereof, and from transferring or disposing of his seat or membership in the said exchange, and from excluding him from or interfering with the exercise by him of the right to vote at any election of officers of the said exchange, or at any other meeting thereof. The order contains, also, a clause for a temporary injunction until the hearing and determination of the motion to be made under such order. The plaintiff claims that while it is not within the power of a court of law or equity to retry the question on its merits as to whether a member of the stock exchange has been properly expelled, he is entitled to the decision of the court upon the question whether he has been fairly treated according to the constitution which he has signed and agreed to observe, and according to the rules of natural justice and fair play, which ought to regulate all proceedings, judicial in their character, which are not exercised by a court vested with full judicial powers, but by a body selected by the agreement of the parties.

The defendant claims that the rules applicable to proceedings in ordinary courts of justice have no application to proceedings of this character, and that the trial contemplated by the constitution of the stock exchange is one to be had before the governing committee of that body, according to such methods as it may choose to pursue, subject, however, to the conditions that this committee must exercise the authority conferred upon it honestly and in good faith, and that they must afford to the accused party a full and fair opportunity to defend himself. I think that, under the decisions to which I have already referred, it must be conceded that the governing committee of the stock exchange is not bound, on the trial of a member for misconduct involving his suspension or expulsion, by the ordinary rules which obtain in judicial proceedings; but it is equally obvious, from the opinions rendered in those cases, that the courts are authorized to interfere for the purpose of holding the association to a fair [42]*42and honest administration of its rules, and that the association must act fairly and in good faith. The case of White agt. Brownell (supra) seems to have rested in some measure upon the ground that in that case under the constitution and by-laws of the Open Board of Stock Brokers, an appeal could be taken from the decision of the committee on membership to the executive committee; and chief justice Daly, in his opinion, says: The plaintiff could have appealed from their decision (the committee on membership), if it were erroneous or unjust, to the board of appeals, and he should have resorted to the remedy provided for him within the board before he could ask a court of equity to interfere, upon the ground that an arbitration committee were prejudiced against him.”

In the case now under consideration there is no appeal from the decision of the governing committee, and if the proceedings of the committee were fair and honest, and the members thereof were not actuated by bias, prejudice or partiality, their judgment must be deemed to be conclusive upon the rights of the plaintiff. It is stated in the brief of the learned counsel for the defendant that the excepted case in which judicial tribunals will interfere with or review the proceedings of voluntary unincorporated associations in the matter of the expulsion of members cannot, perhaps, be better stated than by saying that where the proceedings resulting in the expulsion of a member are contrary to natural justice a court of equity may interfere. I am inclined to think that this is a correct statement of the rule. How, in this case it appears that the plaintiff had been a member of the exchange for several years prior to the proceedings instituted against him; that rumors sprang up affecting his reputation for integrity and fidelity, and that publicity having been given to these rumors by an article published in one of the newspapers the plaintiff requested that the exchange should make an investigation. A committee of investigation was accordingly appointed, which made an examination extending over a period of several weeks. The plaintiff appeared before that committee, his books were [43]*43examined, and he was permitted to make statements and explanations in regard thereto. 'The privilege was accorded to him of cross-examining the witnesses produced before the investigating committee.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 How. Pr. 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hutchinson-v-lawrence-nysupct-1884.