Court dismisses lawsuit against Titan board, Taylor

QUINCY, Ill. (June 3)—A three-year-old shareholder derivative lawsuit against Titan International Inc.'s CEO Maurice Taylor Jr. and its board of directors alleging gross mismanagement, abuse of control and other illegal conduct was dismissed with prejudice May 30. The action—filed June 20, 2000, in an Adams County, Ill., circuit court—had been filed by three shareholders and then-members of United Steelworkers Local 164 in Des Moines, Iowa, which struck against Titan from 1998-2001. The plaintiffs had been seeking damages on behalf of the company, claiming the defendants had destroyed more than $400 million in shareholder value for Titan. But on May 28, attorneys for both sides stipulated on dismissal terms, including language indemnifying the plaintiffs attorneys and their firms from association with Titan's federal racketeering lawsuit against the USWA. In the racketeering case—filed Sept. 28, 2000—Titan claims the shareholder suit was frivolous and baseless.