Opinion ID: 2449080
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the company's action in this court

Text: Relators filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Court of Civil Appeals of the Fourth Supreme Judicial District to require Judge Loughridge to expunge his Order of Discovery. The court of civil appeals dismissed the petition for want of jurisdiction. Thereafter, Relators filed an original action in this Court pursuant to Article 1733, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, seeking to have this Court issue a Writ of Mandamus ordering the respondent, Judge Walter Loughridge, to set aside his Order of Discovery as being void and to allow said case to proceed to trial. Art. 2.44, V.A.T.S. Bus.Corp. Act, provides that any shareholder of record who meets certain qualifications shall have the right to examine for any proper purpose the books and records of the Company. A method for the enforcement of the right of inspection or examination of the books and record of a corporation is by mandamus. Moore v. Rock Creek Oil Corporation, 59 S.W.2d 815, 817 (Tex. Comm'n App.1933, jdgmt. adopted); 5 Fletcher Cyc. Corp. § 2251 (perm. ed. rev. repl. 1967). A mandamus action is a civil suit and is generally regulated by the same rules of procedure as other civil actions. Although the right to a jury trial does not exist in all situations where mandamus is applicable, it does exist in the situation where a corporation, in resisting a stockholder's attempt to inspect the books and records, raises by its pleadings a fact issue over whether the stockholder has a proper purpose for wanting to see the books. See Guaranty Old Line Life Co. v. McCallum, 97 S.W.2d 966 (Tex.Civ.App.1936, no writ) and Roberts v. Munroe, 193 S.W. 734 (Tex. Civ.App.1917, writ dism'd). In our view, the Company has raised a fact issue over whether the Whites had a proper purpose to inspect the Company's books. Judge Loughridge, in granting the Whites' motion for discovery, has deprived Relators of a jury trial on the issue of proper purpose since the Whites will receive through the order allowing discovery all of the relief sought in the main suit. Relators are entitled to a writ of mandamus ordering the trial judge to expunge his order for discovery. In so holding, we are not passing upon the merits of the issues drawn by the pleadings in the Whites' suit. We are certain that the trial judge will proceed in accordance with the law as we have held it to be in this opinion without the necessity of the actual issuance of a writ of mandamus, but in the event he should fail to so proceed, the Clerk will issue the necessary writ so as to render effective the judgment of this Court. All costs are assessed against respondents, John H. White, Joella White Bitter et vir, and Evelyn White Thomson et vir.