Ignoring Reality: Iowa Supreme Court Decides Case Involving Oppression by Majority Shareholder in Farm Corporation

On June 14, 2013, the Iowa Supreme Court released an opinion dealing with what constitutes “fairness” among minority and majority shareholders in the setting of a second generation family farm corporation which had experienced disagreements between cousins in the second generation.1 The facts of the case indicate that the parties had essentially ignored stock valuation for nearly 30-years while the value of assets was reaching record levels.2 The minority shareholder succeeded in getting an adverse decision in the District Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings