San Diego – August 4, 2023 – The California Supreme Court today issued a landmark decision in Turner v. Victoria et al., which ensures essential whistleblower protections for more than 110,000 charities across California.
Cooley represented plaintiff and appellant Debra Turner in successfully petitioning the court to review her case and in achieving a sweeping victory on the merits for Turner and for all California charities. Lawyers Steve Strauss, Erin Trenda and Matt Nguyen led the Cooley team during this phase of the appeal.
“Charity-director plaintiffs like Ms. Turner have direct standing to bring an action for breach of fiduciary duty that occurred on their watch and see it through to completion,” said Strauss during oral argument. “Any other rule would make a mockery of these statutes and justice because it would allow the defendants – the majority of the board – to control litigation against them. A board majority should not be able to immunize themselves from suit.”
Turner served as a director and officer for The Conrad Prebys Foundation, which holds more than $1 billion in charitable funds left by celebrated San Diego philanthropist Conrad Prebys. As alleged in her complaint, during her service on the foundation’s board, Turner witnessed director and trustee Laurie Anne Victoria and three other directors divert $15 million toward a noncharitable purpose in violation of Mr. Prebys’s last wishes and the express terms of his trust. Turner promptly initiated an action...
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