The Woodward School for Girls, Inc. v. City of Quincy, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-129-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11390 THE WOODWARD SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, INC. vs. CITY OF QUINCY, trustee,[1] & another.[2] Norfolk. December 2, 2013. – July 23, 2014. Present: Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Trust, Charitable trust, Investments, Trustee’s accounts. Damages, Breach of fiduciary duty, Interest. Interest. Massachusetts Tort Claims Act. Governmental Immunity. Immunity from Suit. Municipal Corporations, Trusts, Governmental immunity. Waiver. Laches. Civil action commenced in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on July 11, 2007. After transfer to the Norfolk County Division of the Probate and Family Court Department, the case was heard by Robert W. Langlois, J. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court. John S. Leonard (James S. Timmins, City Solicitor, with him) for city of Quincy. Sarah G. Kim (Josephine M. Deang Chin & Alison K. Eggers with her) for the plaintiff. CORDY, J. This dispute arises from a trust established in 1822 by former President John Adams and supplemented by a bequest of his grandson in 1886. The city[3] of Quincy (Quincy) served as trustee of the Adams Temple and School Fund and the Charles Francis Adams Fund (collectively, Funds) through two boards.[4] The Woodward School for Girls, Inc. (Woodward), the income beneficiary of the Funds since 1953, filed suit against Quincy initially seeking an accounting and thereafter asserting that Quincy committed a breach of its fiduciary duties to keep adequate records, invest the trust’s assets properly, exercise reasonable prudence in the sales of real estate, and incur only reasonable expenses related to the management of the Funds. We transferred the case here on our own motion following Quincy’s appeal and Woodward’s cross appeal from a Probate and Family Court judge’s ruling removing Quincy as trustee and ordering it to pay a nearly $ 3 million judgment.[5] On appeal, Quincy asserts that the trial judge erred in finding that Quincy committed a breach of its fiduciary duties to the Funds by failing to invest in growth equities to protect the principal when the Funds have only an income beneficiary to provide for, and by not heeding specific investment advice it received in 1973. In addition, Quincy challenges the award of damages, alleging that it was based on an improperly introduced and unsound […]
Local Woman Helps Run Girls Soccer Club in Haiti
What began as a 10-day trip to Haiti in 2011 for Taryn Silver turned into a new home and about 50 new friends. Silver, a former Sharon resident, helps run the Association Sportives des Jeunes Filles de Fond des Blancs (The Sports Association of Young Women of Fond des Blancs), a girls soccer club in the rural town of Fond-des-Blancs, about 70 miles west of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Silver moved to Haiti in 2012 to work for the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation in Fond-des-Blancs. It was there where she met Andover native Molly Klarman who had started the club last year. “On the streets and fields in Haiti you almost always see only boys playing soccer. This club offers the girls of Fond-des-Blancs a chance to play soccer, exercise, and have fun,” Silver said in an email to Sharon Patch. “We have 53 girls on our roster. The ages range from 13-22 with a few girls who are older (24, 26, 28). All of our girls are in school and live within a 35-minute walk to the practice field,” she said. The club offers an opportunity that Haitian women rarely get due to lack of funding, time and also due to the cultural roles Haitian men and women often play, Silver said. “Most girls that go to school have tons of chores they are responsible for doing after school. Including getting water, cooking food for the family, doing laundry and taking care of younger siblings,” she said. “I think it has mainly been for boys because of the gender roles in Haitian culture. We hope this club will help to shift those in the community and offer the girls a chance to be in the spotlight,” said Silver. When it first began the club had 20 girls. This year the roster has more than doubled in size. “Molly and I visited the schools in the community [in January] to invite new girls who might be interested. We thought we might have 25 girls interested, but now we have over 50 and girls keep showing interest,” said Silver. Silver said the club has been a success because it is fun for the women and it gives them confidence. Some of the girls shared why they like soccer and what the club means to them. The following are statements from some of the girls in the club that have been translated from Creole into English: Marie Danise Azor – 16 years old “I want to play soccer, because I love it so much. It is something important and that’s reason I want to play […]
Five Things: Girls Hoops, Food Choices and Global Warming
1. LHS Girls Hoops Host Boston Latin: Lexington High varsity girls basketball team will look to punctuate a successful 2012-2013 campaign with a postseason run and it begins at 7 p.m. tonight, when the Minutemen host Boston Latin in the first round to the MIAA Division 1 North tournament. 2. Today in Public Meetings: According to the town website, public meetings posted for today include the ad hoc Townwide Facilities Master Planning Committee at 8:30 a.m. at the DPW Building, the Town Celebrations Committee at 7 p.m. at the DPW Buildig, the Tourism Committee’s Antony Working Group at 7 p.m. at Cary Hall, the Recreation Committee at 7 p.m. at the Town Office Building and the Planning Board at 7:30 p.m. at the Town Office Building. 3. Food Choices & Global Warming with Sonia DeMarta: Basektball’s not the only thing going tonight at Lexington High. At 7 p.m., Lexington Community Education will present an evening of discussion on food choices and global warming with Sonia DeMarta, a co-founder of the Lexington Farmers Market. Costs $ 20; email info@lexingtoncommunityed.org for more information. 4. Do You Get Daily, Weekly and Breaking News in Your Inbox? If the answer to that question was “No,” then you’re missing out and need to click here to sign up for the Patch Newsletter. 5. Rainy Day, Maybe Snowy Night: Looks like rain today, with a high of 39, according to the National Weather Service, which predicts more precipitation — and possibly snow — overnight at the low gets down to 34. South End Patch