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Lessons from the $148M Fraud by Dole's GC and CEO

By Karen Brunton Bloom, Evelyn Cruz Sroufe and Luis R. Mejia
November 30, 2015

Last month, we discussed the fact that the Delaware Chancery Court ordered Dole Food Co. Inc. CEO David Murdock and COO and General Counsel C. Michael Carter to pay Dole shareholders $148 million for fraud in connection with the company's 2013 take-private deal. The Aug. 27 decision is one of the largest awards ever to shareholders in a deal-related lawsuit. We conclude this discussion herein.

Where the company's controlling shareholder has a forceful personality and low regard for board process, directors may be under pressure to conform to the controlling shareholder's wishes and must be on the alert for indications that they are not receiving complete information. Some of these indications are listed below.

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