State Ex Rel. Boylan v. Boylan's Private Police, Inc.

23 So. 2d 196, 208 La. 499, 1945 La. LEXIS 879
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 29, 1945
DocketNo. 37598.
StatusPublished

This text of 23 So. 2d 196 (State Ex Rel. Boylan v. Boylan's Private Police, Inc.) 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
State Ex Rel. Boylan v. Boylan's Private Police, Inc., 23 So. 2d 196, 208 La. 499, 1945 La. LEXIS 879 (La. 1945).

Opinion

*501 HAWTHORNE, Justice.

This is a mandamus proceeding filed July 29, 1943, against Boylan’s Private Police, Inc., in which relator, Milton W. Boylan, Jr., seeks to have said corporation reissue to him 253 shares of the common stock of said corporation and permit him, as such stockholder, to inspect the books and records of the respondent corporation.

Relator, Milton W. Boylan, Jr., alleges that he is the owner of two certificates of the common stock of Boylan’s Private Police, Inc., Certificate No. 3 being for 252 shares and Certificate No. 4 for one share, each share having a par value of $10, which stock was subscribed for by relator in the articles of incorporation. He further alleges that he has been refused the privilege of examining the books of said corporation after written requests made through his attorneys; that under date of April 10, 1940, all the subscribers of stock named in said articles of incorporation entered into an agreement with one Henry Muller, which agreement is attached to the petition, in which all these subscribers pledged their certificates of stock for the payment of a note in the sum of $4,200; that on or about September 22, 1942, the said stock was returned by Henry Muller to the respective owners thereof; that relator’s stock was illegally cancelled by the corporation; that said act of cancellation was an attempt to deprive relator of the ownership of said certificates, .and that for these reasons he is entitled to have said certificates of stock reissued and is entitled under the law to be permitted to inspect the books of said corporation. To this end he prays for a writ of mandamus.

Milton W. Boylan, Sr., intervened, alleging that he is the owner of the stock in question, which stock was issued to him-for the business which was being conducted by him under the name of Boylan’s Protection Police, and that the stock was placed in the names of Milton W. Boylan, Jr., relator, and Thomas M. Boylan, his two sons, for convenience only, and that he never at any time donated said stock to these individuals. He prays to be recognized as the owner of such.

Respondent, Boylan’s Private Police, Inc., filed answer, setting forth that the corporation was formed for the purpose of taking over the business of Boylan’s Protection Police; that the stock issued to Milton W. Boylan, Jr., and Thomas M. Boylan was issued solely for the purpose of convenience, of which fact these persons had full knowledge; that the said Milton W. Boylan, Sr., had not made any donation to these parties, nor was there any intention to do so; that relator, Milton W. Boylan, Jr., is not the owner of the stock claimed by him.

In the alternative, respondent alleges that relator never paid for the stock, and that it was forfeited pursuant to the provisions of Act .No. 250 of 1928, as amended, and that relator was notified of such forfeiture.

After trial on the merits, the alternative writ of mandamus, issued at the time of the filing of the petition, was made peremptory insofar as the right of examination of *503 the books was concerned, but recalled in all other respects. From this judgment respondent, Boylan’s Private Police, Inc., and intervenor, Milton W. Boylan, Sr., have appealed suspensively, and relator, Milton W. Boylan, Jr., has appealed devolutively from that portion of the judgment recalling the writ of mandamus for the issuance to him of 253 shares of common stock of the corporation.

Boylan’s Protection Police was established in the City of New Orleans in 1880 by the father of intervenor, and in due time was inherited by his heirs, among these being Milton W. Boylan, Sr., who has been connected with said business since November of 1906, same having been operated as a partnership in which he owned a 15 per cent interest prior to his father’s death, and who has spent his entire life in this business.

On June 14, 1938, Boylan’s Private Police, Inc., was organized for the purpose of taking over the business of Boylan’s Protection Police, a partnership, for the reason that the partnership had become involved financially and was in litigation. In the articles of incorporation the subscribers of stock were named as follows: Milton W. Boylan, Sr., one share; Mrs. Milton W. Boylan, Sr., one share; Milton W. Boylan, Jr., 253 shares; Thomas M. Boylan, 245 shares. Boylan, Sr., was named as president, his wife as vice-president, and Boylan, Jr., as secretary and treasurer. The capital stock of the corporation was fixed in the charter at the sum of $5,000, represented by 500 shares of the par value of $10 each.

On June 15, 1938, the board of directors-of the corporation approved the purchase of the accounts receivable, office equipment, and furniture of Boylan’s Protection Police for the sum of $2500.

Milton W. Boylan, Sr., being ill at the time, his son, Boylan, Jr., took charge of the business of the corporation as secretary and treasurer at a salary of $250 per month.

At -the time the corporation was organized or shortly thereafter, Boylan, Jr., borrowed (1) $600 from C. L. Curet, (2) $500 from an individual named Brinkman and subsequently $200 from the same source, making a total of $700 on the Brinkman loan, and (3) $100 from Jules Viosca. All these sums were turned over to the corporation for the purpose of meeting its obligations, such as payrolls, etc. Although Boylan, Jr,, gave his personal note for the Brinkman and Curet loans and handled all these sums, the Brinkman loans were procured from family connections through his mother’s influence.

In 1939, Boylan, Jr., refinanced certain property located at 3615 Canal Street, and received in this transaction the sum of $1,600 in cash, from which amount he paid the Curet note of $600 and purchased $1000 in homestead stock, which at a later date was cashed and used in discharging obligations of the corporation.

Under Boylan, Jr.’s management, the corporation became heavily involved financially, and on April 10, 1940, one Henry Muller advanced to said corporation the sum of $4,200 to discharge certain obliga *505 tions and meet two payrolls of approximately $900 each, on the condition that the corporation execute its note for said sum with the individual endorsement of each shareholder, which note was secured by pledge of all the outstanding capital stock of the corporation and in addition by a collateral mortgage note executed by Boylan, Jr., in the sum of $2,500. This agreement with Muller further provided that he was to have full and complete management and control of the affairs of the corporation until such time as he had been fully repaid.

At the time this agreement was executed, the certificates of stock subscribed for in the articles of incorporation were issued for the first time to the respective parties as therein set out, although the corporation had been in existence about two years. These certificates were delivered to Muller.

Several days after this agreement, Boylan, Jr., resigned from the board of directors and as secretary and treasurer of the corporation. Muller assumed full control under the agreement and conducted the business affairs of the corporation until about September 22, 1942.

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23 So. 2d 196, 208 La. 499, 1945 La. LEXIS 879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-boylan-v-boylans-private-police-inc-la-1945.