(Download) "Mary Kay Green and Jerry Hassett v. Cox" by Supreme Court of Nebraska # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Mary Kay Green and Jerry Hassett v. Cox
- Author : Supreme Court of Nebraska
- Release Date : January 03, 1982
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 63 KB
Description
The instant appeal grows out of the same facts which gave rise to the case of Hall v. Cox Cable of Omaha, Inc., 212 Neb. 887, 327 N.W.2d 595 (1982), decided this day. In the instant case the appellants Green and Hassett filed a petition in the District Court for Douglas County, Nebraska, alleging that they were duly elected members of the city council of the City of Omaha; that they were qualified electors entitled to vote in general and special elections conducted under the home rule charter of the City of Omaha; and that they were taxpayers of the City of Omaha. Their claims for relief set out in their petition were essentially identical with the claims set out in the Hall case, though the allegations of facts and Conclusions were set out in only five pages. Green and Hassett alleged that in an effort to obtain the exclusive rights to develop and market a cable television system (CATV) for Omaha, Nebraska, the defendant Cox Cable of Atlanta and eight individual defendants formed Cox Cable of Omaha, Inc. (Cox Cable); that the eight individual defendants entered into an agreement with Cox Cable of Atlanta, the purpose of which agreement was to lend their names, their connections, and their lobbying efforts to Cox Cable in dealing with the Omaha City Council. The petition alleged that the franchise awarded by the City of Omaha to Cox Cable was invalid because (a) it was issued in violation of § 11 of the home rule charter of the City of Omaha, (b) it was the result of favoritism, collusion, and undue influence, (c) it constituted constructive fraud upon the public and the costs of the unconscionable premium or commission Cox Cable of Atlanta was paying the individuals must be borne by the cable television user, (d) it was a breach of the city's fiduciary duty to prospective users, (e) the award came about after Cox Cable and the eight individuals violated the ""no lobby rule"" adopted by the city council, (f) no valid legal rate could be assessed under it, (g) it was in violation of public policy, and (h) it resulted in unjust enrichment to the individual defendants. The petition prayed that the contract be declared null and void or, in the alternative, that the court reform the contract by excising from it all unlawful and unfair aspects as shown by the evidence and impose a constructive trust upon the shares of stock representing a 20 percent ownership of Cox Cable by the individual defendants. Each and all of the defendants filed demurrers to the petition. On August 31, 1981, the trial court sustained the demurrers and dismissed the plaintiffs' petition. As we noted in Hall, supra, because this case was decided by the trial court on a demurrer, we must, when reviewing this case, consider all proper allegations of fact as true. Paasch v. Brown, 193 Neb. 368, 227 N.W.2d 402 (1975); Hester v. Young, 154 Neb. 227, 47 N.W.2d 515 (1951). We are not, however, to consider mere Conclusions or bald assertions not reasonably reached from proper facts alleged. See, Retail Section of Chamber of Commerce of Plattsmouth v. Kieck, 128 Neb. 13, 257 N.W. 493 (1934); Timmerman v. Hertz, 195 Neb. 237, 238 N.W.2d 220 (1976).