Southern Joslyn Co. v. Electric Appliance Co.

133 So. 753, 172 La. 219, 1931 La. LEXIS 1671
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMarch 2, 1931
DocketNo. 30998.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 133 So. 753 (Southern Joslyn Co. v. Electric Appliance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southern Joslyn Co. v. Electric Appliance Co., 133 So. 753, 172 La. 219, 1931 La. LEXIS 1671 (La. 1931).

Opinion

O’NIELL, C. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment appointing a receiver for a corporation. The appellant is a creditor of the corporation, and was not a party to the suit in which the receiver was appointed. The suit was brought by the Southern Joslyn Company* Inc., claiming to be a creditor of the defendant, Electric Appliance Company, for merchandise sold and delivered, to the amount of $2,039.49. The suit was brought under the eighth paragraph of section 1 of Act No-. 159 of 1898, p. 313, authorizing the courts to ap *222 point a receiver to take charge of the prop-' erty and business of a corporation, at the instance of a creditor, when the board of directors of the corporation shall have declared by resolution that the corporation is unable to meet its obligations as they mature and that a receiver is necessary to preserve and administer its assets for the benefit of all concerned. The suit was filed on the next day after the board of directors of the corporation had adopted the resolution conforming with the eighth paragraph of section 1 of the statute; and on the day on which the petition was filed, the judge' ordered the corporation to show, cause on that day why the receiver should not be appointed. The corporation answered on the same day, admitting the facts alleged in the plaintiff’s petition ; and the judgment was rendered immediately, appointing the receiver.

Appellant’s complaints are: First, that the plaintiff, being a creditor of the corporation, did not pray for a money judgment, in the petition for the appointment of a receiver; second, that it was not stated in the petition for the appointment of a receiver, or in the judge’s order on the corporation to show cause why the receiver should not be appointed, that the case was one of emergency, to be heard instanter, or in less than ten days; and, third, that the resolution of the board of directors of the corporation did not authorize the president to waive citation and consent to the appointment of a receiver.

1. It is true that the plaintiff did not pray for a money judgment against the corporation, but prayed merely for an order to be served upon the corporation to show cause why a receiver should not be appointed, etc., and for a final judgment appointing a receiver, “and for all general and equitable relief.” But the nature of the obligation was set forth specifically in the petition, and an itemized statement was annexed, showing the date and the number and amount of each and every invoice for the goods that were sold and delivered.

Appellant relies upon the statement made in the following cases that the appointment of a receiver to take charge of the property and affairs of a corporation is only an ancillary proceeding, in which the plaintiff, if a creditor of the corporation, must pray for a money judgment, in order to have a right of action to; have a receiver appointed, viz.: Saxon v. Southwestern Brick & Tile Mfg. Co., 113 La. 637, 37 So. 540; Yasquez v. Metropolitan Building Co., 134 La. 907, 64 So. 827; and Pearson v. Levy Carpet Co., 137 La. 223, 68 So. 421. The expressions to that effect in those cases were not necessary for the decision rendered in any one of the cases and should not be considered as a part of the decision. In fact, the expressions to the effect that a suit for the appointment of a receiver is only an ancillary proceeding, and that the plaintiff in such a suit, if he be a creditor of the corporation, must pray for a money judgment against the corporation in order to have a right or cause o.f action to have the receiver appointed, were virtually denied in the case of Bellevue Farms Co-, v! Orleans-Kenner Electric Co., 141 La. 528, 75 So. 236, where the court held that it was not necessary for a creditor of a corporation, suing to have a receiver appointed, to pray for a money judgment against the corporation or the receiver, in order to have a right or cause of action to have the receiver appointed. It is true that, in the Bellevue'' Farms Company’s Case, the ground on which' the appointment of á receiver was asked for Was that the' directors or officers of the corporation were jeopardizing the rights of the' creditors and stockholders by grossly mismanaging the, business or by committing acts *224 ultra vires, or by wasting, misusing or misapplying the property or funds of the corporation. But, if a suit for the appointment of a receiver on that ground is not merely, an ancillary proceeding, and if, in that case, it is not necessary for the plaintiff to pray for a money judgment in order to have a right of action to have a receiver appointed, how can it be said that a suit for the appointment of a receiver because the directors of the corporation have, by a formal resolution of the board of directors, thrown up their hands and acknowledged that the corporation is insolvent and that a receiver must be appointed “for the benefit of all concerned,” is merely an ancillary proceeding, and that, therefore, the plaintiff must pray for a money judgment in order to have a right of action to have a receiver appointed? When the plaintiff in a suit for the appointment of a receiver bases his right of action upon the allegation that the directors or officers of the corporation are grossly mismanaging the business, etc., the suit is very apt to bring on a serious contest; but when the suit is founded upon the fact that the board of directors has, by a formal resolution, acknowledged that the corporation is insolvent and cannot go on, and that a receiver must be appointed, the suit cannot provoke any, contest at all as to whether a receiver must be appointed. And so there is no reason why the plaintiff in such a case should have to pray for a money judgment in order to have a right of action to have a receiver appointed. The statute itself, Act No. 159 of 1898, does not make any such requirement. According to the statute, a suit for the appointment of a receiver to take charge of the business and property of a corporation— whether it be brought by a creditor or by a stockholder of the corporation — is a complete demand, and not merely ancillary to a demand for a money judgment against the corporation. In fact, a money judgment could not be rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the corporation in such a suit. The error of the statements made in the decisions which the appellant here relies upon was emphasized by the decision in Arent v. Liquidating Commissioners of Bank of Monroe, 133 La. 134, 62 So. 602. Arent had sued the liquidating commissioners of the bank for $50,000, and had lost his suit. Thereafter, he sued for the appointment of a receiver to take charge of the property and affairs of the bank, alleging that he was a creditor for the $50,000 on the same alleged obligation on which he had based his previous suit. The defendants, liquidators of the bank, filed a plea of res adjudieata and an exception of no cause or right of action. The district judge sustained the plea of res adjudicata, and dismissed the suit for the appointment of a receiver. This court reversed the judgment, overruled the plea of res adjudicata, and sustained the exception of no right of action, on the ground mainly that the plaintiff had disclosed in his petition that it had been judicially and finally decided that he was not a creditor of the corporation. The court said:

“While the parties to the suit just referred to are the same as the parties to this suit, the causes of action are different. In the former suit, plaintiff asked for a money judgment against defendants, as liquidators of the Bank of Monroe.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
133 So. 753, 172 La. 219, 1931 La. LEXIS 1671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-joslyn-co-v-electric-appliance-co-la-1931.