Staff Report
A high-profile family dispute between brothers and sisters over the division of a multi-million dollar estate has come down to a decision by U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman in favor of the sisters.
Bertelsman’s decision awards the daughters of John L. Griffin and Rosellen Griffin in excess of $540 million he says they were entitled to from their parents’ estates.
John L. Griffin founded Griffin Industries 70 years ago. It grew into a multi-million dollar business with operations in several states.
Two civil suits were filed by the daughters. One by Elizabeth A. Osborn and another by Linda G. Holt, Judith E. Prewitt and Cynthia L. Roeder against John. M. Griffin; Anthony A. Griffin, executor of the estate of Dennis G. Griffin; Anthony A. Griffin, Trustee of the Dennis B. Griffin Revocable Trust; and Martom Properties, LLC.
“These cases present a dispute over the disposition of the assets in the estates of the plaintiffs’ parents . . .Some of the transactions occurred more than 30 years ago,” wrote Bertelsman.
One of the plaintiffs (Osborn) settled a related lawsuit more than 20 years ago, the document says.
“In late 2010, however, a series of events caused the plaintiffs to raise new questions about their brothers’ fiduciaries’ conduct, and these lawsuits resulted,” Bertelsman writes. “Although millions of dollars are at stake, at the heart this is a family fight.”
The dispute turned siblings and generations against each other — and, despite efforts urging compromise, Bertlesman writes, the “Court has been unable to convince the parties to compromise.”
The document describes the “significant and unfortunate proportions” of the family fight. It involves breach of “fiduciary duties” to the sisters, transactions that “contravened the provisions” of the parents’ estates, “self-dealing,” and a family dynamic in that “working boys” were schooled in the family business and “traditional gender roles” were assigned to the sisters.
The decision says that Dennis G. Griffin, now deceased, and John M. Griffin “occupied positions of authority vis a vis their sisters” and believed the sisters “had no business playing any role in the company’s management.”
“With generous checks arriving regularly and with assurances that the brothers would ‘take care of it’ and do right by their sisters, the sisters toed the line,” Bertlesman writes.
John L. and Rosellen had 12 children, nine still living. Son Robert Griffin was dismissed as a defendant and sons Martin and Thomas are not parties in the suit.
The document cites a “pattern, spanning decades” of the brothers exercising their “authority over their sisters,” selectively sharing information and intimidating them.
The document outlines the details of the parents’ individual wills and intentions, stating that “none of Father or Mother’s estate documents . . .provided that the parents’ stock in Griffin Industries would be distributed unequally among their children.”
The defendants have 14 days to file objections to the judgment.
See entire 103-page ruling here.