Opinion ID: 2210245
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whalen I.

Text: The Connelly Group, L.P., hereinafter referred to as TCG, is a Delaware limited partnership, created in 1990, that owns and operates a riverboat casino in Davenport, Iowa. Plaintiff, Michael L. Whalen, is the sole limited partner in TCG, with five percent ownership. Whalen's present general partner in TCG is PRC-Iowa, Inc., a Delaware corporation with ninety-five percent ownership. PRC-Iowa has two board of director members, John E. Connelly, and Edward S. Ellers. Both are named defendants in the case and appeal presently before us. PRC-Iowa, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of President Riverboat Casinos, Inc. (PCI), a Delaware corporation. The events leading to our decision in Whalen I began in May 1993 when Whalen filed a petition at law in district court, asserting, inter alia, claims of mismanagement and diversion of partnership assets, breaches of oral and written agreements, and breach of fiduciary duties. [1] See 545 N.W.2d at 290. Whalen's claims were made in his individual capacity, not as a limited partner and not on behalf of the partnership as a whole. Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that Whalen's breach of fiduciary duty claim was derivative in nature and thus could not be asserted by Whalen acting in his individual capacity. See id. at 292. In response, Whalen sought leave to amend his petition to allege certain claims as derivative in nature and on behalf of the partnership. The district court denied Whalen's motion to amend and dismissed certain claims as derivative in nature and not belonging to Whalen individually. See id. at 290. Whalen's remaining claims, the substance of which are not relevant to this appeal, were dismissed on defendants' motion for a directed verdict during trial. See id. Whalen filed his notice of appeal in Whalen I on November 18, 1994.