A recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision addressed the important issue of the right of directors to be given access to corporate records. In Schnatter v. Papa John’s International, Inc., C.A. No. 2018-0542-AGB (Del. Ch. Jan. 15, 2019), Delaware’s court of equity considered a claim under Section 220(d) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) by the founder and largest stockholder of the Papa John’s pizza chain who was forced out as the CEO but retained his position as a director. He sought to obtain books and records in his capacity as a director to support an investigation that the other directors breached their fiduciary duties by improperly ousting him for unjustified reasons.
Key Bullet Points that Make this Case Noteworthy include the following:
- The court required the Defendant-Directors to produce their text messages and their private emails, that they sent and received, that related to the specific issues in contention. Prior Chancery decisions have required the production of such personal communications that related to corporate business but such a ruling is still notable. For example, a few years ago, in Amalgamated Bank v. Yahoo!, Inc., highlighted on these pages, the Court of Chancery ordered a similar scope of production–and also cited to a law review article that yours truly published in which my co-authors and I explained why electronically stored information (ESI), including text messages and private emails, should often be included within the scope of a DGCL Section 220 demand. See law review article co-authored by yours truly which argued that the court should often include ESI as part of the obligation to produce records under Section 220. See 37 Del. J. Corp. L. 163, 165 (2012), highlighted on these pages here.
- It is well-established that directors have nearly unfettered rights to access to books and records of a corporation in which they serve. Unlike a stockholder, when a director makes a demand for books and records under Section 220(d), the corporation has the burden to establish that the director’s demand for books and records is based an improper purpose.
- Unlike the impact of a stockholder filing a plenary action before a Section 220 case is complete, when a director files a plenary action before a final ruling in a Section 220 case, that will not necessarily bar the continuation of Section 220 claims and it will not otherwise moot the Section 220 claims. See generally CHC Investments, Inc. v. FirstSun Bancorp, C.A. No. 2018-0610-KSJM (Del. Ch. Jan. 24, 2019)(Section 220 stockholder demand case dismissed due to parallel plenary action.)
- The court observed that a director should not be required to sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition to obtaining records because a director already has a fiduciary duty to keep them confidential—as compared to stockholders who routinely are required to sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition to obtaining records pursuant to a Section 220 demand. See generally Murfey v. WHC Ventures, LLC, C.A. No. 2018-0652-MTZ (Del. Ch., Jan.23, 2019)(proposed confidentiality order rejected by Court as non-compliant with Chancery Rule 5.1 because it did not allow for filing confidential documents with the court–confidentially.)