In re Consumers Power Co. Derivative Litigation

111 F.R.D. 419, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22264
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 25, 1986
DocketCiv. A. No. 84CV-3788-AA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 111 F.R.D. 419 (In re Consumers Power Co. Derivative Litigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Consumers Power Co. Derivative Litigation, 111 F.R.D. 419, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22264 (E.D. Mich. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOINER, District Judge.

This shareholder’s derivative litigation arises out of the alleged mismanagement of the construction of the Midland Power Plant. Several individual shareholder actions were consolidated into one suit. Defendant directors now seek to dismiss the consolidated suit on three grounds: the plaintiffs’ failure to make a demand on the company’s board of directors and the amended complaints inadequate reasons for excusing this failure; the inadequacy of the plaintiff representing the class of plaintiffs; and the lack of ripeness of the plaintiffs’ claims for damages arising out of several pending lawsuits by other parties against the company. The court finds that the plaintiffs’ failure to make a demand on the corporation is not excused by the well-pleaded allegations of their complaint and therefore the action must be dismissed without prejudice so that the plaintiffs may make this demand. Because of its holding • on this first issue, the court does not address the two remaining arguments advanced by the defendants.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In 1967, Consumers Power Company (Consumers) engaged Bechtel Power Corporation (Bechtel) to do a feasibility study for the construction of a two-unit nuclear power plant in Midland, Michigan. After the study showed that construction was feasible, Consumers and Bechtel entered into a contract for the design, planning, and construction of the plant. Construction of the plant was to be completed by 1975 and was originally scheduled to cost $256 million.

The plaintiffs’ first amended complaint states that the construction of the Midland plant was beset by serious management problems from its inception. These problems caused large cost overruns and delays in the completion of the plant. As costs and delays continued, the amended complaint alleges, Consumers was forced to either seek financing through public offerings of its stock and issuance of debt secu[421]*421rities or to abandon the construction of the project and write off its investment in the Midland plant. The company chose to issue additional securities and debt. The amended complaint states that in order to make these offerings attractive to the public, and keep interest rates down, show increased earnings (which would have the incidental effect of increasing the bonuses payable to senior management), the officers and directors of Consumers embarked on a course of conduct to conceal the construction problems and the financial difficulties of the Midland plant, while at the same time inflating Consumers’ earnings.

The construction delays kept Consumers from fulfilling the terms of a 1967 agreement with Dow Chemical Company (Dow) wherein Dow had promised to purchase large quantities of cogenerated steam that would be produced by the Midland plant. Consumers and Dow renegotiated this agreement in 1978. The new agreement contained a termination option for Dow if the Midland plant was not completed by the end of 1984. Consumers had obligated itself to keep Dow informed of all construction activities, delays, changes, etc., which would affect its ability to cogenerate steam at the plant. The amended complaint alleges Consumers’ directors failed in these duties and the company was sued by Dow as a result.

Plaintiffs’ allegations continue by saying that as early as January 1980, the directors and officers of Consumers Power concealed from the public the delayed completion dates and mismanagment problems. The company’s annual reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued to optimistically forecast the completion of the plant. Throughout this period there were numerous reports of construction problems including the sinking of several portions of the plant, and several Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) citations and civil penalties. Finally, in 1984, Consumers was forced to cut dividends and announce it was considering abandoning the project. Its accountant, Arthur Anderson, issued a qualified opinion about the annual financial report because of its doubts that Consumers would be able to recover its costs of constructing the plant. In July, 1984, Consumers finally announced it was cancelling the Midland plant completely. In the wake of this announcement, the SEC began an investigation of the company’s disclosures in connection with the construction and cost overruns at the Midland plant.

The plaintiff’s amended complaint alleges Consumer’s directors issued false and misleading information to the investing public and company shareholders for the purpose of obtaining shareholder approval to amendments to the certificate of incorporation' to increase the number of shares of authorized common, preferred, and preference shares. Count I of the amended complaint alleges this constitutes a violation of Section 14(a) of the Securities Act of 1934. 15 U.S.C. § 78n(a). In furtherance of the director’s plans, the plaintiffs allege the directors caused the company to overstate its net income, which had the effect of increasing the bonuses payable to the company’s officers under the Executive Incentive Compensation Plan (EICP). These bonuses are claimed to constitute a waste of corporate assets because they lacked adequate consideration. Plaintiffs in Count II of their complaint argue the directors breached their fiduciary duties to the corporation by overinflating the company’s stated earnings and granting excessive bonuses.

Count III of the complaint states the directors’ wrongful conduct in concealing construction delays, cost overruns, and other problems with the Midland plant led Dow to institute an action against Consumers. Plaintiffs request this court declare that any monies paid out to Dow as a result of the Dow action constitute a waste of corporate assets and assess these costs against the directors. Similar allegations are contained in Count IV of the amended complaint, where the plaintiffs focus on the directors’ actions leading up to the institution of another lawsuit against the company, In Re Consumers Power Company Securities Litigation, 83-CV-6448-AA, [422]*422now pending before this court. This suit concerns the alleged violations of federal securities laws which resulted from the issuance of the misleading proxy statements and Annual Reports. Plaintiffs request the court to declare that any damages suffered as a result of this litigation be paid by the directors for their alleged breaches of their fiduciary duties.

Plaintiffs filed this action in several individual complaints, which were then consolidated by this court into a single case. None of the individual plaintiffs sought to make a demand on the company to assume the burden of suing these past and current directors. One shareholder did make a demand for the corporation to assume the responsibility of this action after the proceedings had already been commenced. LEGAL ISSUES

The defendant directors claim the plaintiffs’ failure to make a demand on the company to assume this suit requires the dismissal of this action. They point to the language of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23.1 in support of their argument. The text of Rule 23.1 reads:

Rule 23.1. Derivative Actions by Shareholders

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Bluebook (online)
111 F.R.D. 419, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-consumers-power-co-derivative-litigation-mied-1986.