Larson v. Midland Hospital Supply, Inc.

Stephen Larson appealed when his case against Midland Hospital Supply, Inc. ("Midland"), Midland ProHealth, Inc. ("ProHealth") and Richard Larson was dismissed. Midland was a North Dakota corporation engaged in the wholesale, resale distribution and sale of medical supplies until dissolved in 2007. The Larson family owned all of the shares of the corporation. Richard Larson was the majority shareholder and the president of the company and his brother, Stephen Larson, and their two sisters were minority shareholders. The company had a buy-sell agreement requiring any shareholder desiring to sell, transfer or encumber their shares to first offer them to the other shareholders on a pro-rata basis. If the shareholders did not purchase the offered shares, the company could redeem them. If the company or shareholders did not purchase the shares, they could be sold to any party. In May 1999 Richard sent the minority shareholders a letter indicating the company wanted to purchase their shares by July 1999. The two sisters agreed to sell their shares. Stephen declined the offer. Richard personally purchased the sisters' shares, increasing his ownership interest in the company. In 1994 Richard Larson set up ProHealth, a retail company selling medical supplies, of which Richard was the president and sole shareholder. ProHealth purchased approximately half of its inventory from Midland. It had an outstanding accounts receivable with Midland by 2001. By the end of 2006 ProHealth owed Midland approximately $1,600,000. In August 2007, the full amount of the accounts receivable was paid. Interest on the receivable was paid in August 2008. Stephen sued for breach of fiduciary duty, conflict of interest, negligence, breach of shareholder buy-sell agreement, misappropriation, conspiracy, conversion, action for accounting and unjust enrichment. The summons and complaint were served in June 2013, and the action was filed in September 2014. The trial court held that Stephen's case against Midland and his brother was barred by statute of limitations. After review, the Supreme Court affirmed, concluding the statute of limitations barred Stephen's claims related to his ownership interest in Midland and the district court did not err finding he was paid for his interest in Midland. View "Larson v. Midland Hospital Supply, Inc." on Justia Law