NH Supreme Court Affirms Dismissal of Lawsuit

On April 12, 2011, the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of Brooks v. Trustees of Dartmouth College. The opinion is available through the following link: http://now.dartmouth.edu/2011/04/supreme-court-of-new-hampshire-decision-affirms-dartmouth-governance-reforms/ In Brooks, seven alumni challenged the Board's September 2007 decision to add additional charter trustee seats to the Board. The NH Supreme Court noted that Brooks was the second lawsuit filed about this issue. The first lawsuit was dismissed after the June 2008 Association of Alumni election, which the Court described as follows: "In June 2008, the alumni elected a new executive committee for the Association. In the campaign preceding the election, two slates of candidates ran against one another, the 'Unity Slate' and the 'Parity Slate.' The Parity Slate of candidates pledged to continue the lawsuit against the Trustees; the Unity Slate pledged to dismiss it. The Unity Slate won the election, and consistent with its campaign promises, adopted resolutions to dismiss the Association’s lawsuit against the Trustees." The Court ruled, among other things, that dismissal of the first lawsuit by the Association of Alumni barred subsequent suits by other alumni.