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Saidawi v. Giovanni's Little Place Inc.3/9/1999
This slip opinion is subject to revision and may not reflect the final opinion adopted by the Court.
Appeal From: Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Hon. Barbara Wallace
Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appeals from the trial court's dismissal of his petition with prejudice.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART.
Division Three holds:
1) Piercing the corporate veil on an alter ego theory to have a judgment entered against individuals is an independent cause of action under Missouri law. Thus the trial court erred in dismissing Counts I and II of Plaintiff's Petition.
2) The trial court correctly dismissed Plaintiff's cause of action for prima facie tort. Plaintiff had not alleged sufficient facts to support this cause of action.
3) The trial court erred in dismissing plaintiff's cause of action for fraudulent conveyance as time-barred by section 428.049 RSMo. (1994). Plaintiff's cause of action arose before the effective date of section 428.049, which has no retroactive effect.
4) Plaintiff's cause of action for fraudulent conveyance was not time-barred by the applicable statute of limitations, section 516.120(5), RSMo. (1994).
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART. Simon, C.J., and Crane, J., concur.
Opinion
Muneer Saidawi ("Plaintiff") appeals from the trial court's dismissal of his petition with prejudice. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
FACTS
On December 6, 1988, Plaintiff was injured in the course of his employment at Giovanni's Little Place, Inc., a Missouri corporation owned by the Gabriele family ("Defendant Restaurant"). Consequently, Plaintiff filed a Claim for Compensation with the Division of Workers' Compensation against Defendant Restaurant. Defendant Restaurant, which had no Workers' Compensation insurance, contested the claim.
On July 16, 1991, John Gabriele, president and a stockholder of Defendant Restaurant, made a loan of $10,000.00 to Defendant Restaurant secured by the assets of Defendant Restaurant. A Security Agreement memorializing Gabriele's security interest in Defendant Restaurant's assets was properly recorded on July 22, 1991. On August 19, 1992, Mr. Gabriele foreclosed on the Security Agreement. That same day, Defendant Restaurant transferred its assets to Mr. Gabriele, who then transferred them to Manwin Restaurant, Inc. ("Manwin"), which had been incorporated on June 19, 1992. Manwin subsequently took over operations of the business, filing a Registration of Fictitious Name listing itself as sole owner of Giovanni's Little Place. Plaintiff alleges that members of the Gabriele family also own and control Manwin.
Plaintiff's Workers' Compensation Claim was heard on June 16, 1993. The Administrative Law Judge awarded Plaintiff permanent partial disability and approximately $129,000.00 in medical expenses. Defendant Restaurant appealed the award to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission ("the Commission"). On March 17, 1994, the Commission affirmed Plaintiff's award. Defendant Restaurant appealed the Commission's affirmance of the award to the Missouri Court of Appeals, but voluntarily dismissed its appeal on July 18, 1994. On August 4, 1994, Plaintiff's Workers' Compensation award was entered as a judgment.
On August 8, 1994, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit attempting to hold various officers, directors and stockholders of Defendant Restaurant personally liable for the Judgment. The trial court, on September 15, 1994, dismissed the petition for failure to state a cause of action, and granted Plaintiff thirty days in which to file an amended petition
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