Wohlstein v. Aliezer

321 S.W.3d 765, 2010 WL 3221922
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 16, 2010
Docket14-08-00751-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 321 S.W.3d 765 (Wohlstein v. Aliezer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wohlstein v. Aliezer, 321 S.W.3d 765, 2010 WL 3221922 (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

KENT C. SULLIVAN, Justice.

Appellant, Joshua Wohlstein, sued a professional rival, appellee Ron Aliezer, for interfering with — and causing the breakup of — his business partnership. The trial court granted summary judgment to Aliezer and his company, appellee ASW Allstate Painting & Construction, Inc. (“ASW”), prompting this appeal.

We conclude the evidence raises a fact issue as to some of Wohlstein’s claims for tortious interference and fraudulent transfer. Therefore, we reverse those portions of the trial court’s judgment. Otherwise, we affirm as to the remaining causes of action.

I.

BACKGROUND

The relevant facts, viewed in the light most favorable to Wohlstein, 1 recount a series of business transactions between a construction contractor, Ofer Manashe, and two of his subcontractors, appellant Wohlstein and appellee Aliezer. Manashe plays a significant role in these underlying facts but is not a party to this appeal. 2

In early 2005, Manashe, the owner and operator of Sandstone Construction, Inc. (“Sandstone”), agreed to a series of construction contracts for the renovation of twelve apartment complexes. However, because he had planned to leave the country for several months that year, he worried about Sandstone’s ability to complete the work in his absence.

Therefore, he approached Wohlstein, one of his subcontractors, and proposed an arrangement whereby Wohlstein would complete the projects on Sandstone’s behalf, in exchange for a fifty-percent share in the profits from those jobs. According *769 to Wohlstein, the parties also discussed a similar agreement covering a series of future construction projects to occur in 2006 and 2007.

Wohlstein agreed to this oral proposal, which was never reduced to writing. He has described his relationship with Ma-nashe, at least with respect to those twelve construction projects, as a “partnership.” Nevertheless, Wohlstein apparently held himself out to others, including Aliezer, as merely a “supervisor” for Sandstone. Whatever his actual role within Sandstone — which is disputed — he was designated sole signatory on the company’s bank account during Manashe’s absence.

By January 2006, Sandstone had completed all twelve construction projects and, by doing so, earned roughly $2.4 million in net profits. Wohlstein asserts, under the terms of his oral contract with Manashe, he is entitled to half that amount, or $1.2 million. However, his demand has not been paid because, once the work was complete, Manashe allegedly reneged on the agreement to share profits with Wohl-stein. 3

Wohlstein blames his rival Aliezer, at least in part, for Manashe’s refusal to hon- or their partnership agreement. Aliezer, who has been Manashe’s friend for more than thirty years, admitted he was offended by his exclusion from the lucrative apartment-renovation projects 4 and made his displeasure known to Manashe:

Q. Is it accurate to say that you felt like Sandstone Construction should have awarded those 12 jobs to ASW Allstate?
A. Of course. Yes. That was my understanding to begin with.
Q. Did you ever advise Ofer Manashe that you felt it was unfair that he had awarded those contracts or that he decided to pursue those contracts with Joshua Wohlstein instead of with ASW Allstate?
A. I did tell him about this.

Appellant claims that, in response to that conversation, Manashe agreed to renege on his partnership agreement with Wohlstein. That plan, however, was not without obstacles. Because Wohlstein was sole signatory on Sandstone’s bank account, once expelled from the partnership, he could simply write himself a check covering his $1.2 million share of net profits. To guard against that possibility, Manashe and Aliezer allegedly conspired to empty the Sandstone account before notifying Wohlstein of his ouster from the partnership.

Thus, in late January 2006, Aliezer asked Wohlstein, reportedly on Manashe’s behalf, to withdraw a large sum of money from the Sandstone account. Aliezer represented the money would be wired overseas to Manashe, who had become cash-strapped and in need of funds. Wohlstein accommodated the request and wrote Al-iezer several checks totaling $1,090,000. These withdrawals effectively depleted the Sandstone account. 5

However, Aliezer did not wire the money to Manashe as promised. Instead, he deposited the funds directly into an account belonging to his own company, ASW. He then filed at least four assumed-name certificates with the Harris County clerk, *770 listing himself as the sole owner of four new Sandstone companies: Sandstone Construction, Sandstone Painting, Sandstone Construction and Painting, and Sandstone Painting and Construction.

Through those new entities, Aliezer purported to take over Sandstone’s business, evidently with Manashe’s approval. Ma-nashe informed appellant that the business had been sold to Aliezer, and he further notified Sandstone’s clients that Wohlstein was no longer affiliated with the company.

Wohlstein immediately filed suit against Manashe, Sandstone, Aliezer, and ASW. Aliezer and ASW filed a traditional and no-evidence motion for summary judgment. The court granted the motion without specifying the basis for its ruling. Following severance, the summary judgment became final.

This appeal followed. Generally, appellant contends the trial court erred by granting summary judgment 6 because the record raises a fact issue as to his claims for tortious interference, participation in breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy, and fraudulent transfer.

II.

Standard of Review

The standards we use to review a summary-judgment order are well-settled. See Seidner v. Citibank (S.D.) N.A., 201 S.W.3d 332, 334 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2006, pet. denied). A party seeking summary judgment must demonstrate his entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. See Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Nixon v. Mr. Prop. Mgmt. Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548 (Tex.1985). If the evidence establishes the movant’s apparent right to summary judgment, the burden then passes to the non-movant to raise a genuine issue of material fact to defeat the motion. See Va. Power Energy Mktg., Inc. v. Apache Corp., 297 S.W.3d 397, 402 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2009, pet. denied).

On appeal, we review the summary-judgment motion and evidence de novo. See Valence Operating Co. v. Dorsett, 164 S.W.3d 656, 661 (Tex.2005).

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Bluebook (online)
321 S.W.3d 765, 2010 WL 3221922, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wohlstein-v-aliezer-texapp-2010.