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Elenson v. Wax

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 8, 1995
215 A.D.2d 429 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

May 8, 1995

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Yachnin, J.).


Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.

It is axiomatic that a shareholder has no individual cause of action to recover damages for a wrong against a corporation, even if that shareholder loses the value of his investment or incurs personal liability in an effort to maintain the solvency of the corporation (see, Abrams v Donati, 66 N.Y.2d 951). Allegations of mismanagement or diversion of assets by officers or directors for their own enrichment, without more, plead a wrong to the corporation only, for which a shareholder may sue derivatively but not individually (see, Abrams v Donati, supra). In this case, the majority of the plaintiffs' claims allege that the individual defendant caused injury to a corporation alleged to be jointly owned by the plaintiff Brian Elenson and the individual defendant. As such, neither of the plaintiffs may maintain these claims individually; they may only sue derivatively.

To the extent that the plaintiffs have asserted nonderivative causes of action, we find that dismissal pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7) is warranted. Miller, J.P., Pizzuto, Joy and Krausman, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Elenson v. Wax

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 8, 1995
215 A.D.2d 429 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

Elenson v. Wax

Case Details

Full title:BRIAN ELENSON et al., Appellants, v. ABRAHAM WAX et al., Respondents

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: May 8, 1995

Citations

215 A.D.2d 429 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
626 N.Y.S.2d 531

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