Tae Hwa Yoon, Appellant, v New York Hahn Wolee Church, Inc., et al., Respondents. (Index No. 23256/06), 56 A.D.3d 752

Summary

The trial court essentially found that it lacked jurisdiction because the issues could not have been resolved by resort to neutral principles of law. The appellate court found dismissal of the cause of action to compel the production of the church's books and records was error. The issue of whether the member, who sought to enforce a statutory right, was entitled to the production, could have been determined by resort to neutral principles of law. Although the action was not brought as a special proceeding pursuant to N-PCL 621, it was appropriate to convert the action. However, the remainder of the claims were properly dismissed, but for reasons different from those relied on by the trial court. Defendants established that the member lacked standing to assert the remaining claims. Since the member sought to vindicate the church's rights by asserting those claims, they had to have been, but were not, asserted in the context of a derivative action brought by at least 5 percent of the ...