Randall, et al. v. Haddad, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-102-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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‑11402 ROBERT J. RANDALL & another[1] vs. MARION HADDAD & others.[2] Suffolk. February 3, 2014. ‑ June 12, 2014. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, & Duffly, JJ. Judgment, Satisfaction. State Board of Retirement. Attorney General. Governmental Immunity. Retirement. Public Employment, Retirement. Commonwealth, Trustee process. Trustee Process. Practice, Civil, Judgment, Attachment, Trustee process. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on November 19, 2008. A motion to dismiss was heard by Regina L. Quinlan, J., and entry of corrected judgment on the motion to dismiss was ordered by Thomas E. Connolly, J. After review by the Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court granted leave to obtain further appellate review. Michael J. Walsh for the plaintiffs. Daniel G. Cromack, Assistant Attorney General, for Attorney General & another. Gerald W. Mead, Jr., for Marion Haddad, was present but did not argue. BOTSFORD, J. In this case, the plaintiffs, a monk of the Greek Orthodox church and the monastery of which he is currently a resident, seek to satisfy a judgment they obtained in a separate action in the Superior Court in Middlesex County against the defendants Marion Haddad and The Holy Annunciation Monastery Church of the Golden Hills (Holy Annunciation). The amount of the judgment represents the proceeds from the sale of property in Melrose on which stands a monastery and a church, title to which at the time of sale stood in the name of Holy Annunciation. Despite a court order requiring Haddad and Holy Annunciation to hold the proceeds from the sale of this property in escrow, Haddad deposited $ 40,000 of those proceeds in her retirement account with the State Board of Retirement (board). Having received no payment on the judgment in that action, the plaintiffs brought this case in part to name the board as trustee for the $ 40,000 Haddad had deposited with it. The board and the Attorney General, both named as defendants, moved to dismiss on grounds that Haddad’s funds held by the board were not subject to attachment and, in any event, principles of sovereign immunity barred the suit against the board. A Superior Court judge (motion judge) agreed and allowed the motion to dismiss. On the plaintiffs’ appeal, a panel of the Appeals Court also agreed with […]