Fletcher v. Atex, Inc.

Atex, Inc. (defendant), a Delaware corporation making keyboards, was wholly owned by Eastman Kodak (defendant). Plaintiffs injured by repetitive stress from Atex's keyboards sought to hold Kodak directly liable, arguing Atex was Kodak's alter ego: Atex's funds were pooled with other Kodak subsidiaries in a cash-management system controlled by Kodak, Kodak's approval was required for Atex's major decisions, the two boards partially overlapped, and some Kodak documents loosely referred to a merger or described Atex as a Kodak division. Atex nonetheless observed all standard corporate formalities. The trial court granted Kodak summary judgment, finding the facts insufficient to pierce the corporate veil, and the plaintiffs appealed.