# King v. Modern Music Co.

> Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma · April 3, 2001 · 72 O.B.A.J. 3112

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9781948

## Case

- **Full name:** Donna and Robert KING, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. MODERN MUSIC CO. and Larry K. Phillips, Defendants/Appellees
- **Court:** Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
- **Decided:** April 3, 2001
- **Citations:** 72 O.B.A.J. 3112; 33 P.3d 947; 2001 OK CIV APP 126; 2001 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 97; 2001 WL 1297811
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Stubblefield
- **Judges:** Rapp, Taylor, Stubblefield
- **Cited by:** 8 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9781948

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- noting importance of showing a fraudulent scheme directed at the plaintiffs

## Opinion text

STUBBLEFIELD, P.J.,
dissenting
T1 I respectfully dissent. I believe reasonable inferences from the evidentiary materials in the record support the conclusion that Larry K. Phillips, individually, and perhaps acting in his capacity as officer of Modern Music Company, was using the corporate entity, F & J Venture, Inc., as a shell by which he could ensconce a series of lessees as operators of the establishment which, at one time, was known as the Double Eagle Club. The evidentiary materials support the conclusion that Phillips negotiated with June Allison to become the lessee/operator, and that she took initial action to create F & J. Her testimony was that she never "activated" the corporation, and that Phillips must have been the person that did finalize creation of the corporate entity without her knowledge.
I 2 I believe this case cannot be addressed merely as one involving dram shop liability. Plaintiffs have a judgment against F & J Venture, Inc. and, thus, that entity's liability for Plaintiffs' damages has been determined. This action was brought to pierce the corporate veil and assign liability to Phillips. Although Phillips was not a named owner or officer of F & J, the evidentiary materials indicate that he may have used the corporation shell for his own purposes. While the general rule is that a corporation is a separate legal entity, that legal fiction may be disregarded if the corporate existence is a fraud or scheme used as an instrumentality or adjunct of another. Oklahoma Oil & Gas Exploration Drilling Program 1983-A v. W.M.A. Corp., 1994 OK CIV APP 11, ¶ 8 , 877 P.2d 605, 609 . The , evidentiary materials support the conclusion that the corporation, F & J Venture, Inc., was such an instrumentality of Phillips. I believe that fact, if established at trial, would support assignment of liability to Phillips, and possibly to Modern, for the judgment rendered against F & J. I would reverse and remand.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9781948. Public record. Not legal advice.