Title: ZIFFRIN v. Ziffrin Truck Lines, Inc.

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

239 Ind. 468 (1959)
158 N.E.2d 793
ZIFFRIN ET AL.
v.
ZIFFRIN TRUCK LINES, INC.
No. 29,765.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed May 27, 1959.
Charles B. Feibleman, Bernard Landman, Jr., Gene E. Wilkins, John E. Lesow, Bamberger & Feibleman, of counsel, and Lesow & Lesh, of counsel, all of Indianapolis, for appellants.
*469 Kenneth Foster, R. Stanley Lawton, Alan H. Lobley and Ross, McCord, Ice & Miller, of counsel, all of Indianapolis, for appellee.
JACKSON, J.
This matter is here on appeal from an interlocutory order of the Superior Court of Marion County, Indiana, Room No. 3. Appellants, defendants below, complain of the action of the trial court in rendering the following judgment, to-wit:
The facts are summarized as follows: At a duly called annual meeting of appellee on January 15, 1959, S. Ziffrin, Herman Liberman, Betty Marcus, Lewis Levy and John Barney were allegedly elected as the Board of Directors of appellee. On said day, following said election, said directors elected the following officers:
That at said meeting a controversy arose over the right of Simon Ziffrin to cast the proxy vote of David Ziffrin. Appellants allege that at said meeting the following directors were elected, to-wit: David Ziffrin, Louis Ziffrin, E. Ziffrin, Betty Marcus and John Lesow.
Thereafter on January 19, 1959, said directors elected or attempted to elect the following officers of said corporation, Ziffrin Truck Lines, Inc., to-wit:
*471 On January 19, 1959, a suit was filed in Superior Court Room No. 3 of Marion County, Indiana, by plaintiff-appellee, ZIFFRIN TRUCK LINES, INC., seeking a temporary restraining order, restraining the defendants-appellants, David Ziffrin and Louis Ziffrin, from purporting or assuming to act as directors and officers of plaintiff-appellee and enjoining the defendants-appellants from interfering in any way with the operations of the plaintiff-appellee. On the same day said court issued a restraining order against the appellants, in said order fixing January 23, 1959, at two o'clock P.M. in the court room of said court, for the hearing on the application for temporary injunction.
Thereafter on January 21, 1959, appellants filed their answer to the complaint in seven rhetorical paragraphs, denying the material allegations of the complaint, challenging the right of appellee to institute the action, denying authority of appellee's Board to authorize the suit, insisting that the proper action would be in quo warranto, seeking relief from the temporary restraining order and for a permanent injunction against the appellee.
It appears from the record that the appellants have instituted an action in quo warranto in Superior Court Room No. 2 of Marion County, Indiana.
It is a long-established rule in Indiana that the determination of the title to an office is properly raised by a proceeding in quo warranto. The facts before us in this action are such that the ultimate issue should be determined by an action in quo warranto. State ex rel. Benton v. Kinkle (1949), 227 Ind. 564, 571, 86 N.E.2d 677; The Carmel Natural Gas and Improvement Company v. Small et al. (1897), 150 Ind. 427, 429, 430, 47 N.E. 11.
While there is a dispute as to the validity of the *472 proxy voted by Simon Ziffrin at the board meeting on January 15, 1959, there is no dispute as to the fact that the board elected at the meeting where said proxy was so voted, was then and now is in physical possession of the corporation offices, books, bank accounts and other physical properties of the corporation.
In the matter here before us for consideration, on this appeal, the finding of the lower court to the effect that appellee's officers were at least de facto officers is sustained by evidence. That being the case, the following rule will apply:
The judgment of the lower court is affirmed.
Achor, C.J., Arterburn, Bobbitt and Landis, JJ., concur.
NOTE.  Reported in 158 N.E.2d 793.