Opinion ID: 2764119
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: United Technologies Corp., a Delaware corporation, appeals from a judgment by the Court of Chancery holding that the court did not have the authority to impose a specific condition on a books and records inspection under § 220(c) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL). United Technologies had sought to restrict the use of any information garnered from an inspection by a shareholder, Lawrence Treppel, to legal action in a Delaware court. The Court of Chancery denied the corporation‟s request, determining that such a limitation “is not the type of restriction that 220(c) seeks to impose.”1 On appeal, United Technologies argues that the court does have the authority, under the statute itself and the line of cases interpreting it, to impose the requested limitation, and the court erred by not doing so in this case. Because the plain text of § 220 provides broad power to the Court of Chancery to condition a books and records inspection, the court erred in determining that it lacked authority under the statute to impose the requested restriction. We therefore reverse on that issue and remand so that the Court of Chancery can consider in the first instance whether, in its discretion, it should impose such a restriction based on the specific facts in this case.