California Supreme Court Watch

#21-522 Turner v. Victoria, S271054. (D076318, D076337; 67 Cal.App.5th 1099; San Diego County Superior Court; 37-2017-00009873-PR-TR-CTL, 37-2018-00038613-CU- MC-CTL.) Petition for review after the Court of Appeal affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment in a civil action. This case presents the following issues: (1) Does a director or officer of a California nonprofit public benefit corporation who brings an action under Corporations Code sections 5142, 5223, and/or 5233 for breach of charitable trust and/or improper conduct by directors of the trust lose standing to continue litigating the claims if he or she does not remain a director during the litigation? (2) Does the “continuous ownership” requirement of Corporations Code section 5710 for shareholder derivative standing in the for-profit context apply to derivative standing of members of a nonprofit public benefit corporation?

Review granted: 11/10/2021

Case fully briefed: 6/15/2022

Cause argued and submitted: 5/25/2023

Opinion filed: Judgment reversed: 8/03/2023

See the Court of Appeal Opinion.

See the Petition for Review.

See the Oral Argument.

See the California Supreme Court Opinion.  (Turner v. Victoria (2023) 15 Cal.5th 99.)

“We hold that a director of a nonprofit public benefit corporation who brings a lawsuit pursuant to Corporations Code sections 5142, 5233, and 5223 does not lose standing to continue litigating the suit if the director subsequently loses that position. Because the Court of Appeal reached a contrary conclusion, we reverse the judgment below.”

Chief Justice Guerrero authored the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Corrigan, Liu, Kruger, Groban, Jenkins, and Evans concurred.