Ohio appeals court upholds injunction in beer distributors' family feud




The Ohio First District Court of Appeals has upheld an injunction in a feud between third-generation co-owners of Heidelberg Distributing Company, one of the Midwest's largest beer distributorships,

WCPO-TV reported.

“Albert Vontz III sued his sister, Carol Miller, in December 2014, claiming her side of the family had taken control of the company,” the WCPO report said. The report said the September 2015 trial “showed what could happen when two siblings each own 50 percent of a company's voting stock, and they can't agree.”

Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven Martin ruled in favor of Vontz; Miller and her family appealed the ruling. The appeals court “upheld the most important part of [the lower court's] ruling — an injunction that would give Vontz a bigger decision-making role at Heidelberg,” WCPO reported.


A

Dayton Daily News

report

noted that the three-judge appeals court panel overturned other portions of the decision and returned the case to the trial judge for further rulings.

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Carol Miller's husband, Vail Miller Sr., led the company for more than 40 years and is now the co-chairman. Their son Vail Miller Jr. is the current CEO. Vontz is the president and co-chairman. The appeals court's ruling said the Millers' “tactics to thwart corporate democracy were not fair to Vontz as a shareholder with 50 percent of the voting rights,” the

Dayton Daily News

article said.

In his November 2015 decision, the trial judge did not award monetary damages to Vontz, the

Daily News

report noted. “The decision stopped short of dictating specific terms of a resolution, and instead ordered both sides to sit down for a full shareholders' meeting before the end of 2015. But the Miller side of the family submitted a notice of appeal … on the same day the judge's decision was filed.” The trial judge wrote a letter to both sides noting that the company owed Vontz “millions of dollars,” the

Daily News

article said. (Sources: WCPO.com, Jan. 4, 2017;

Dayton Daily News

, Jan. 3, 2017.)

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