A Lump of Coal from the Fourth Circuit for a Wachovia Shareholder

The Fourth Circuit delivered a lump of coal right before Christmas to a Wachovia shareholder whose 100,000 shares of the Bank's stock, once worth about $5.6 million, sank into near worthlessness when Wachovia failed.  The case, decided December 23rd, is Rivers v. Wachovia Corp., [an enhanced version of this opinion is available to lexis.com subscribers] and it affirms the dismissal of all of Rivers' claims.

Rivers sued Wachovia and its top officers and directors for misrepresenting the Bank's  financial condition in the months leading up to its failure in 2008.  He said that he would have sold his shares but for the positive statements made by  the Bank about its soundness and stability, which he said amounted to fraud.

Judge Wilkinson said that although Rivers sought to cast his claims as belonging personally to him (i.e. "individual"), they were in fact derivative claims (which belonged to the corporation). 

It is almost impossible in North Carolina for a shareholder to sue an officer or director for the loss in value of stock.  The Fourth Circuit said that in North Carolina and in South Carolina as well, "[t]he well-established general rule is that shareholders cannot pursue individual causes of action against third parties for wrongs or injuries to the corporation that result in the diminution or destruction of the value of their stock."

The reasons that such individual actions are precluded include that they prevent "self selected
advocate[s] pursuing individual gain rather than the interests of the corporation or the shareholders as a group,[from] bringing costly and potentially meritless strike suits."  All Wachovia shareholders were equally injured by the misrepresentations of which Rivers complained.

So, " [a] derivative lawsuit is . . . the vehicle for a shareholder to litigate injuries that result in the diminution in value of the corporation's stock." The North Carolina Supreme Court has recognized two exceptions to its solidly established rule: "(1) where there is a special duty, such as a contractual duty, between the wrongdoer and the shareholder, and (2) where the shareholder suffered an injury separate and distinct from that suffered by other shareholders."

Read this article in its entirety on North Carolina Business Litigation Report, a blog for lawyers focusing on issues of North Carolina business law and the day-to-day practice of business litigation in North Carolina courts.

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