Orchard v. Covelli

WEBER, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This is a removed action filed by a minority shareholder of a closely-held corporation, Robert Orchard, seeking various forms of legal and equitable relief. The lawsuit parallels a family dispute over the ownership and control of a number of McDonald Corporation fast food restaurants located in and about Erie, Pennsylvania, and now owned in the majority by the defendant Albert Covelli.

Tolstoi once wrote that “happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” We sense that Tolstoi was less familiar with the American modern law…