Opinion ID: 1844767
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Shareholders' Separate Appeal.

Text: A. Beaver Valley Canning Company, Delmar A. Nelson, and Robert W. Sackett, were added as plaintiffs to Farm-Fuel's original suit. These additional plaintiffs were shareholders and/or directors of Farm-Fuel. We will refer to them collectively as the shareholders. Approximately six weeks before trial, and after the defendants' answers had been filed, the shareholders applied for leave to amend their petition to assert a third-party beneficiary claim. The application was denied, and the shareholders appealed. The time for amendment as a matter of right had passed because a responsive pleading had been filed. Iowa R.Civ.P. 88. Any allowance of an amendment at that time would therefore be discretionary with the trial court. Id.; Chao v. City of Waterloo, 346 N.W.2d 822, 825 (Iowa 1984); Johnston v. Percy Constr. Co., 258 N.W.2d 366, 370 (Iowa 1977). In view of the already complex nature of the case and the lateness of the attempted amendment, we find that there was no abuse of discretion in denying it. B. The district court directed a verdict against the shareholders on their claim of misrepresentation. We agree with the district court that these individual claims by the shareholders should not be allowed to be prosecuted in view of the claim for damages already pursued by the corporation itself. Cf. Cunningham v. Kartridg Pak Co., 332 N.W.2d 881, 883 (Iowa 1983) (generally, shareholders have no claim for injuries to their corporation by third parties within context of derivative action). We find no grounds for reversal on either appeal. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.