Delaware Business Litigation Report

Court of Chancery Requires Bad Faith Disclosure Violations for Demand Futility

Ellis v. Gonzalez, C.A. No. 2017-0342-SG (Del. Ch. July 10, 2018)

The pre-suit demand on the board requirement for derivative litigation usually is not excused solely by a sufficiently pled disclosure violation.  Rather, as held in this decision and recently in Steinberg v. Bearden, 2018 WL 2434558 (Del. Ch. May 30, 2018), to excuse demand on an independent, disinterested, and duty-of-care-exculpated board on the basis that the directors face a substantial risk of liability for a disclosure violation, the complaint must sufficiently plead the disclosure violation was the product of bad faith.  Absent sufficient non-conclusory facts on this point, the complaint will be dismissed.

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