A.R.A. Mfg. Co. v. Brady Auto Accessories, Inc., 80CA0572

Decision Date11 December 1980
Docket NumberNo. 80CA0572,80CA0572
PartiesA.R.A. MANUFACTURING COMPANY, a Texas Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. BRADY AUTO ACCESSORIES, INC., Defendant-Appellee, Basil Dreiling, Defendant, and E. Dreiling Investment Company, Defendant-Appellant, and BASIL DREILING, Third-Party Plaintiff, v. Brady SIMPSON, Third-Party Defendant. . III
CourtColorado Court of Appeals

Pendleton, Sabian & Craft, P. C., Andrea K. Bloom, Alan C. Friedberg, Denver, for plaintiff-appellee.

No appearance for defendant-appellee.

Head, Moye, Carver & Ray, Pamela Ray, Karen C. Gehlhausen, Denver, for defendant-appellant.

RULAND, Judge.

Defendant E. Dreiling Investment Company (the Investment Company) appeals from a judgment of the trial court ordering it to pay Brady Auto Accessories, Inc. (Brady, Inc.), the sum of $15,849. We reverse.

In February 1977, the plaintiff, A.R.A. Manufacturing Company, (A.R.A.) filed suit against Brady, Inc., Basil Dreiling, and the Investment Company for payment for goods sold on open account. In its amended complaint A.R.A. alleged that Basil Dreiling and the Investment Company were alter egos of Brady, Inc., and that they had improperly removed funds and assets from Brady, Inc., for their own purposes. A.R.A. further asserted that this unauthorized withdrawal of funds and inadequate initial capitalization of Brady, Inc., caused it to be unable to pay A.R.A. on its account. A.R.A. prayed for judgment against the defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of approximately $47,000.

Insofar as pertinent here, Basil Dreiling and the Investment Company filed answers denying that either party was the alter ego of Brady, Inc., and that A.R.A.'s claim was against Brady, Inc., only. Brady, Inc., filed its answer denying liability for payment of A.R.A.'s claim.

The evidence at trial established that on April 5, 1976, a check in the amount of $25,000 was drawn on the account of E. Dreiling Investment Company and made payable to Brady, Inc. This check bore a notation "For Purchase of Capital Stock." On August 26, 1976, Brady, Inc., issued a check for $15,000 to the Investment Company. Sometime later, a third check for $849 was endorsed over to the Investment Company. A.R.A. claimed that the Investment Company had no right to the money it received from Brady, Inc., since it represented capital of the corporation. The Investment Company, on the other hand, claimed that the $15,000 and the $849 checks represented partial repayment of what it alleged to be the April 1976 "loan" it had made to Brady, Inc.

In its findings of fact, the trial court found that there was insufficient evidence to hold that either Basil Dreiling or E. Dreiling Investment Company were the alter ego of Brady, Inc. However, the trial court did find that the $25,000 check from the Investment Company was not a loan, but that, consistent with the notation on the check, it was a capital contribution to the corporation. The court, therefore, concluded that the $15,000 check and the $849 check were improperly held by the Investment Company and should be returned to Brady, Inc.

The Investment Company...

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3 cases
  • Lowell Staats Min. Co., Inc. v. Pioneer Uravan, Inc.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
    • June 19, 1989
    ...alter ego, instrumentality or agency, where the complaint fails to state such a claim for relief. See A.R.A. Mfg. Co. v. Brady Auto Accessories, Inc., 622 P.2d 113, 114 (Colo.App.1980). Even if we treat Staats' claim against Nuclear as implicitly tried, the district court properly directed ......
  • National Farmers Union Property and Cas. Co. v. Frackelton
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Colorado
    • November 27, 1981
    ...a party. Consequently, no judgment could be entered against Frackelton in Kerr's action. See A.R.A. Manufacturing Co. v. Brady Auto Accessories, Inc., Colo.App., 622 P.2d 113 (1980). The pertinent question in this appeal then is whether the interrelation of § 13-21-111, C.R.S.1973 (1980 Cum......
  • Anderson v. Shorter Arms Inv'rs
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Colorado
    • July 20, 2023
    ...... justice.'" A.R.A. Mfg. Co. v. Brady Auto. Accessories, Inc. , 622 P.2d ......

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