Jamil v. Solar Power Inc.

230 F. Supp. 3d 271, 2017 WL 416958, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13354
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 30, 2017
Docket16 Civ. 1972 (JSR)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 230 F. Supp. 3d 271 (Jamil v. Solar Power Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jamil v. Solar Power Inc., 230 F. Supp. 3d 271, 2017 WL 416958, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13354 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JED S. RAKOFF, U.S.D.J.

In this decision, the Court undertakes the task of valuing 475,000 shares of restricted common stock that ^defendant Solar Power Inc. failed to transfer to plaintiff Taimur Jamil in breach of their employment agreement. After the Court scheduled a bench trial for this purpose, the parties jointly asked the Court to determine the value of the securities on the record as it stands, and, while this has meant that more inferential reasoning has been utilized in setting the value than might have been the case if the valuation had been the subject of a trial, the Court, acceding to the parties’ request, hereby renders a final determination of the amount due.

The background of this case is set forth in the Court’s decision on summary judgment, familiarity with which is here presumed. See Memorandum dated Nov. 7, 2016, ECF No. 25. Briefly, Solar Power and Jamil entered an employment agreement on April 16, 2015 under which Jamil was awarded, or had the potential to be awarded, various blocks of restricted common stock. On November 3, 2015, Solar Power fired Jamil without having transferred any of the stock. On Solar Power’s motion for summary judgment, the Court found that Solar Power had breached the contract by failing to transfer a total of 475,000 restricted shares and by failing to make a severance payment due under the agreement.

The trial on damages was initially scheduled for December 9, 2016. However, before that date arrived, the parties informed the Court that Jamil had taken no discovery on either the nature of the [274]*274shares’ restrictions or their impact on the value of the securities. See Defendant’s Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion in Limine, EOF No. 27, at 4. The Court therefore adjourned the trial for one month, so as to allow the plaintiff to take additional discovery on these questions. Yet no such discovery was taken, and, on the morning the trial was to commence, the parties stipulated to the answer to what they said was the sole remaining disputed issue of fact: whether the securities, in addition to being subject to contractual restrictions in the form .of vesting periods of varying lengths, were also subject to holding periods under the Securities Act of 1933 and its implementing regulations. The answer was in the affirmative and the parties therefore stipulated that the securities were restricted within the meaning of the Securities Act. Having done so, the parties requested that the Court make the requisite valuation on the basis of the record before it, and the Court agreed to their request. See Transcript dated Jan. 27, at 25-27.

On the basis of that record, the pertinent facts are as follows. Solar Power breached the parties’ employment agreement by failing to transfer 475,000 shares of “restricted common stock” to Jamil. See Memorandum dated Nov. 7, 2016, at 12-14. The contract did not define that term, but did set forth restrictions in the form of vesting periods—essentially, simple holding periods'—of varying lengths. These holding periods were the only contractual restrictions on the securities, but some of the stock was also subject to the aforementioned legal restrictions.

More specifically, the record is clear that on April 16, 2015, Solar Power breached the employment agreement by failing to transfer 260,000 restricted shares (the “Miscellaneous Stock”), which were to vest in 25% increments on the anniversary of Jamil’s employment date, with the first set of 65,000 shares to vest on April 16, 2016, the second set to vest on April 16, 2017, and so forth. See Transcript dated Jan. 6, 2017, at 26-27; Pre-Trial Consent Order, ECF No. 36, at 3. Also on April 16, 2015, Solar Power breached the employment agreement by failing to transfer 35,000 restricted shares (the “Sign-On Restricted Stock”), which were to vest 60 days later. See Transcript dated Jan. 6, 2017, at 26; Pre-Trial Consent Order at 3. Finally, on November 3, 2015, Solar Power breached the employment agreement by failing to transfer 180,000 restricted shares (the “Time-Based Restricted Stock”), which were to vest immediately and thus were not subject to any contractual restrictions. See Transcript dated Jan. 6, 2017, at 25-26; Pre-Trial Consent Order at 3.

All 475,000 shares were also “restricted securities” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144, which provides an exemption from the registration obligations of the Securities Act if, among other requirements, the recipient of the shares satisfies a holding period. See 17 C.F.R. § 230.144(d). More specifically, the parties agree that the 475,000 shares at issue were subject to the six-month holding period applicable to the unregistered securities of an issuer that is “subject to the reporting requirements of section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act,” as was Solar Power. See id. § 230.144(d)(l)(i); Barbara v. Marine-Max, Inc., No. 12-cv-0368 (ARR), 2012 WL 6025604, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 4, 2012) (“The ‘general rule’ under the Securities Act is that the holding period shall be six months if the issuer of the securities is subject to certain reporting requirements and one year if the issuer is not subject to such reporting requirements.”); Transcript dated Jan. 6, 2017, at 25-27.

Finally, the parties agree that the mean over-the-counter share prices for unrestricted Solar Power common stock were $2.01/share on April 16, 2015 and $1.87/ [275]*275share on November 3, 2015. See Transcript dated Jan. 0, 2017, at 25-27.

Under New York law (which governs the contract here applicable), the damages for failing to transfer securities in breach of contract is the fair market value on the date of the breach. See Simon v. Electrospace Corp., 28 N.Y.2d 136, 320 N.Y.S.2d 225, 269 N.E.2d 21, 26 (1971). “The general rule is that the market price of a security should be discounted to reflect the decrease in value, if any, due to a restriction on its transferability.” See Waxman v. Envipco Pickup & Processing Servs., Inc., No. 02-cv-10132 (GEL), 2006 WL 1788964, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. June 28, 2006).

The size of the discount is a question of fact that depends on the nature of both the issuer and the restrictions, and is typically informed by expert testimony. See id. at *4. But not here. Rather than introduce evidence, expert or otherwise, as to how the restrictions affect the value of the securities, Jamil and Solar Power have gambled on who bears the burden of proving the discount rate, with each contending it was the other’s responsibility. Thus, in effect, Jamil argues that there should be no discount at all, and Solar Power argues that there should be a discount of 100%, each position being a product of each party’s argument as to who bears the burden of proof. (However, Solar Power concedes that it at least owes nominal damages for breaching the employment agreement. See Transcript dated Jan. 6, 2017, at 29-30.)

The Court concludes that there should be some discount, but that Solar Power bears the burden of proving the discount rate. More precisely, the burden of uncertainty arising from both parties’ failure to prove the discount with mathematical precision falls on Solar Power. Under New York law, where “the non-breaching party has proven the fact of damages by a preponderance of the evidence, ‘the burden of uncertainty as to the amount of damage is upon the wrongdoer.’ ” See Process Am., Inc. v.

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Bluebook (online)
230 F. Supp. 3d 271, 2017 WL 416958, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jamil-v-solar-power-inc-nysd-2017.