Co-op Tenant Can't Sue Individual Board Members

Co-op tenant sued cooperative corporation and its board of directors after they denied permission for tenant's proposed alterations to her two apartments. Later, tenant asked the court for permission to amend her complaint so that individual board members could be named as defendants in the court case. The court ruled for tenant. The co-op board appealed. The appeals court ruled for the co-op board and the directors. Court rules permit amendment of a complaint to be freely granted, but there must be some grounds. Tenant claimed that individual board members breached their fiduciary duty. But tenant didn't describe any conduct by any individual members that could amount to such a violation. Tenant claimed that one of the board members tried to force her to settle the case. But the conduct in question was taken by the board acting in its corporate capacity, or by the board member acting within the scope of his corporate duties.

Hoppe v. The Board of Directors of the 51-78 Owners Corp.: NYLJ, 3/31/08, p. 24, col.1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Mazzarelli, JP, Saxe, Buckley, Catterson, JJ)