Coleman v. Frontier Mission Fellowship, Inc.
| Docket Number | B325148 |
| Decision Date | 26 October 2023 |
| Parties | ROBERT COLEMAN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. FRONTIER MISSION FELLOWSHIP, INC., et al., Defendants and Respondents |
| Court | California Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County No. 21STCV07636, Monica Bachner, Judge. Affirmed.
Robert Coleman, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Lagerlof and Robert A. Bailey for Defendants and Respondents.
Plaintiff Robert Coleman appeals from the judgment of dismissal after the trial court sustained the demurrers of defendants William Carey International University, Inc. (WCIU) and Frontier Mission Fellowship, Inc. (FMF, and together, defendants) to his first amended complaint (FAC) and second amended complaint (SAC). Coleman's complaints alleged causes of action for breach of implied contract, quantum meruit intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), and constructive fraud based on defendants' sale of part of defendants' Pasadena campus, which served as the mission center for their global development work, after Coleman donated significant amounts of time to defendants between 1976 and 1990 with the understanding that defendants would permanently maintain that campus. Coleman also challenges the court's denial of leave to further amend and the denial of his ex parte request to file a surreply. We affirm.
In the summer of 1975, Coleman completed his studies at the California Institute of Technology and attended the Institute for International Studies summer program, where he met Dr. Ralph Winter. Coleman and Winter engaged in discussions to form what became the World Mission Center-William Carey International University while Coleman began studies at the Fuller School of Intercultural Studies (Fuller). Winter negotiated a purchase of real property consisting of 12 buildings on 17.5 acres (Pasadena Campus) and 17.5 acres with 85 residential parcels and 120 homes in Pasadena, California. On November 5, 1976, Winter incorporated World Mission Center, Inc., which later became FMF.[1] WCIU was incorporated on February 25, 1977. The FMF-WCIU Boards were intended to be the same and were the same throughout the founding decade of the FMF-WCIU. WCIU would be a sister corporation controlled by the FMF board and founded by the FMF Training Division. Coleman left his studies at Fuller in fall of 1976 to help Winter develop the FMF-WCIU.
Winter also inspired and convinced Coleman to abandon his plans for a PhD at MIT and instead tackle global development issues by creating a permanent collaborative center where many agencies could innovate new solutions to problems. According to Winter, the entire Pasadena Campus, to be maintained in perpetuity, would become the permanent center, or "mission pentagon," for this work. Winter insisted that the campus be endowed from the beginning so that its future operations would not rely on undependable fundraising, securing FMF-WCIU's legacy into the future. Winter often emphasized that because the Pasadena Campus was "modest-sized," they (Winter, Coleman and the FMF-WCIU board) would need every square foot to perform FMF-WCIU's legacy.
During Coleman's studies at Fuller, during the incorporation of FMF-WCIU, and during selection of the boards of FMF-WCIU, and while he was chairman of the FMF-WCIU boards, Winter promised Coleman that if Coleman applied himself and his life's efforts to develop FMF-WCIU by assisting in soliciting donations for the down payment to purchase the property and make mortgage payments, the Pasadena Campus would be maintained and remain permanently in Pasadena as a central mission pentagon. Coleman alleged that Winter's promise to him was approved by FMF-WCIU's board, the promise is in FMF-WCIU's written archives, and that FMF-WCIU's board understood these writings to mean that the Pasadena Campus would be maintained and remain a permanent "mission pentagon." Coleman applied his time, energy, and youth to facilitate FMF-WCIU's purpose and to solicit donations. Coleman informed donors that the Pasadena Campus would be ongoing, endowed and continue until "all hidden people groups" were adequately reached. Both Winter and FMF-WCIU's board understood or reasonably should have understood Coleman's intent and condition.
In reliance on Winter's statements, Coleman devoted his time and energy to establishing FMF-WCIU in Pasadena, giving "his entire youth" from 1975 to 1991 to develop FMF-WCIU under a condition the Pasadena Campus would remain part of the legacy.
In May of 1986, Coleman proposed a "Last Thousand" fundraising campaign to the FMF-WCIU board to pay the remainder of the mortgage payment for the Pasadena Campus. The idea was to obtain $1,000 donations from approximately 8,000 donors and hold those donations in trust until all pledges were made, allowing the donors to "step over the line" together to save the Pasadena Campus.[2] Coleman insisted that FMF-WCIU needed to make the same promise and commitment to these donors that Winter and the FMF-WCIU board made to him regarding the permanency of the Pasadena Campus.
In 1988, Coleman left or was terminated from his position as VP of Development after the "Last Thousand" fundraising program, which the board of FMF-WCIU approved over Winter's dissent, succeeded.[3] From September 1988 to December 1990, Coleman remained a board member and provided time in consultation with the FMF-WCIU boards but was not provided any stipend for this time.
Winter died in 2009. In April 2017, Coleman discovered FMF-WCIU was in negotiations to sell the Pasadena Campus. In September 2017, Coleman began discussions with the FMF-WCIU board to cease and desist from selling as it would destroy FMF-WCIU's purpose and legacy. He also informed the board that, if the sale proceeded, it would be required to return prior donations if those donations were being used in a manner other than for which the donations were solicited, including Coleman's donation of his time. The board took the position that FMF-WCIU had no record that the Pasadena Campus would remain permanently in Pasadena and that, given a change in circumstances, the Pasadena Campus was no longer needed to fulfill the FMF-WCIU's purpose and intent. In December 2017, Coleman sent a letter to defendants stating that, if the Pasadena Campus was sold, they were required to return the donations back to the donors, or to a charity of the donor's choice.
Defendants sent an email stating that they did not intend to substantively respond and that his letter contained many inaccuracies. Specifically, defendants' email stated: [4]
In June 2018, Coleman learned FMF-WCIU was in the process of finalizing an agreement for the sale and purchase of the Pasadena Campus and 16 residential parcels adjacent thereto. Coleman continued to attempt to persuade the board to reconsider, and in February 2019 two board members were convinced not to sell. FMF-WCIU sold the campus buildings plus 16 residential parcels in March 2019 for approximately $44 million, thereby failing to maintain the Pasadena Campus in perpetuity. FMF-WCIU's board did not reimburse Coleman for the reasonable value of his time donated after the sale of the property.
Throughout the FAC and SAC, Coleman alleged that the services he performed for defendants were a "donation" or "conditional donation."
Coleman filed his initial complaint on February 25, 2021, and served it on defendants on May 20, 2021. Following a predemurrer meet and confer pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41, defendants indicated an intent to file a demurrer and Coleman indicated a desire to file a FAC. Coleman provided the proposed FAC to defendants for meet and confer purposes and the court entered the parties' stipulation to extend the time for defendants to respond to the original complaint. On several occasions, counsel for defendants met and conferred with Coleman and an attorney that Coleman stated he intended to retain and identified defects in the original complaint and proposed FAC before defendants filed their demurrer to the FAC.
The FAC asserted four causes of action against defendants: (1) constructive fraud; (2) IIED; (3) breach of an implied contract; and (4) quantum meruit. With respect to constructive fraud, Coleman alleged that "a confidential relationship existed between them when they founded FMF-WCIU based on the trust and fidelity Plaintiff had in Defendants' representations"; that Coleman justifiably relied on that representation based on that trust and fidelity; by 1990, Coleman fully performed his services; and defendants had a duty to disclose that they would not maintain the entire Pasadena Campus in perpetuity but did not do so.
In support of his IIED cause of action, Coleman alleged that he "was induced to provide 15 14 years of fully performed services to establish FMF-WCIU and the Pasadena [C]ampus based on the fidelity and trust in the righteousness of Defendants whose conduct assured him he would receive a more meaningful life with the legacy, the Pasadena [C]ampus"; that "[t]he conduct of the Defendants selling the Pasadena [C]ampus in March 2019, and not maintaining the Pasadena [C]ampus in perpetuity eviscerates the...
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