Robert J. Kriner, Jr
Class and Derivative Investor Actions
Mr. Kriner has prosecuted actions, including class and derivative actions, on behalf of stockholders, limited partners and other investors with claims relating to mergers and acquisitions, the enforcement of fiduciary duties, the election of directors, and the enforcement of statutory rights of investors such as the right to inspect books and records. See Sample v. Morgan, C.A. No. 1214-VCS (obtaining full recovery for shareholders diluted by an issuance of stock to management); In re Genentech, Inc. Shareholders Litigation, Consolidated C.A. No. 3911-VCS (leading to a nearly $4 billion increase in the price paid to the Genentech stockholders); In re Kinder Morgan, Inc. Shareholders Litigation, Consolidated Case No. 06-C-801 (action challenging the management led buyout of Kinder Morgan, settled for $200 million); In re Bank of America Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation, C.A. No. 4307-CS. (derivative action relating to BOA’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. resulting in a settlement which included a $62.5 million payment to Bank of America); In re Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. Stockholders Litigation, Consol. C.A. No. 2021-0468-LWW (action challenging the acquisition of Dolan family-controlled MSG Networks Inc. by Dolan family-controlled Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., resulting in a $48.5 million cash settlement for the MSGN stockholder class); In re FAST Acquisition Corp. S’holders Litig., C.A. No. 2022-0702-PAF (Del. Ch.) (action challenging the winding down of FAST (action involving a special purpose acquisition company) and management’s decision to retain for itself a termination fee received from a previously terminated business combination, which settled for $12.5 million in cash); Fannin v. UMTH Land Development L.P., C.A. No. 12541-PAF (derivative and direct claims for breaches of fiduciary duty, breaches of contract and unjust enrichment relating to self-dealing and misrepresentations by controllers of a limited partnership, resulting in settlement of $7 million monetary relief and substantial governance reforms).
Mr. Kriner is currently prosecuting a derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery against senior officers and directors of Blue Bell Creameries USA Inc., seeking to recover massive economic damages sustained by the company and its stockholders as a result of the company-wide Listeria contamination of the company’s production facilities in 2015. Mr. Kriner successfully obtained a full reversal of the Chancery Court’s dismissal of the claims by the Delaware Supreme Court in a landmark ruling on Caremark fiduciary oversight claims under Delaware law. Marchand v. Barnhill, 212 A.3d 805 (Del. 2019). Following the reversal, a Special Litigation Committee of the Blue Bell Board took control of the claims, determined the claims should proceed and returned control of the case to the stockholder plaintiff. The trial is currently scheduled for November 2025 and will be the first trial of Caremark claims in the Delaware Chancery Court. Marchand v. Barnhill. C.A. No. 0586-NAC. Mr. Kriner also is currently prosecuting a class action on behalf of limited partners of CDK Fund I, LP in the Delaware Court of Chancery, asserting that a purported hedge fund formed by Defendant Cody Kerns solicited limited partner investments and operated the fund based on false representations and secret self-dealing, resulting in massive losses to the limited partners and unjust personal gains to Cody Kerns and his co-conspirators. Piteira et al. v. Cody Kerns, et al. C.A. No. 0390-MTZ.
ERISA
Mr. Kriner has also successfully prosecuted claims on behalf of participants in pension and welfare plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), asserting breaches of fiduciary duty by the plan trustees that injured the plans and participants. See Edward Asner v. SAG-AFTRA Health Fund, No. 20-101914 (resulting in a $20.6 million settlement for performers and actors affected by changes to health plan); Snitzer v. Board of Trustees of the American Federation of Musicians Pension Plan, No. 1:17-cv-5361 (resulting in a $26.85 million cash settlement along with substantial governance reforms).
Mr. Kriner is currently prosecuting an ERISA action on behalf of the participants in the New York Teamsters Pension Plan, asserting breaches of fiduciary duty against the plan trustees. Carlisle v. The Board of Trustees of the American Federation of the New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund et al, C.A. No 8:21-cv-00455.
Other Matters
Mr. Kriner has also successfully prosecuted claims on behalf of University of Delaware students who paid for but did not receive school services during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a $6.3 million settlement that provided approximately $200 per student in direct cash payments. Ninivaggi et al v. University of Delaware, C.A. No. 1:20-cv-01478.
Mr. Kriner is currently prosecuting consumer claims in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware relating to travel insurance, Maggi v. International Travel Network, LLC, C.A. No. 1:24-cv-00009-CFC, and a Bitcoin mining Ponzi scheme, Dettmering et al v. VBit Technologies Corp. et al, C.A. No.1:22-cv-01482.