McLaughlin v. Schenk

Greg Schenk (defendant) founded Cookietree, Inc. and later hired Samuel McLaughlin (plaintiff) as an at-will employee who rose to vice president and, through exercised stock options, became a minority shareholder. After Schenk fired McLaughlin in 2004, McLaughlin — who continued owning his Cookietree stock — sued, claiming the firing itself breached the fiduciary duty Schenk owed him as a fellow close-corporation shareholder; the trial court granted Schenk summary judgment on the ground that no fiduciary duty existed at all, and McLaughlin appealed.