Legal Question in Business Law in Michigan
fire your
my wife is in a ''partnership''. well,
my wife has the LLC in her name
only and not the other party, it has
been this way since we started the
company over 5 years ago.
My wife owns 51% of the company.
can she (my wife) fire her partner?
We feel that she is not a good fit for
the company at all. we have heard
from some of our customers they will
not come there when she is there.
We also feel she is turining away
business. There have been other
issues as well. In one case, my wife
was bringing supplies, and on her
second trip in, her partner pulled
something from the freezer and
placed it in front of the door, well my
wife tripped on it bringing in the
secons trip of supplies, she didn't see
the box that was placed in the
doorway she had just walked thru
moments ago. as a result, she fell,
hurting her wrists and knees, and
making a mess with the supplies. her
partner did not even tyr to help her
up or clean up, just glanced at her
and went hmm. and kept working in
front of my wife.
so can my wife fire her ''parnter''?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: fire your
Her best bet is to mediate herself out of the business relationship. Contact your local dispute resolution center (DRC). The larger ones are in Grand Rapids, Dearborn, Ann Arbor and Lansing. I did a lot of work with all of them, and the rosters have the best mediators in the state on them.
Sit down with the "partner" and explain that the company will cease to function as between the two of them, it's just that simple.
At the very least, this "partner" is insensitive, whether she meant to hurt your wife or not. Regardless of her feelings, you need to get this stuff out in the open, because she undoubtedly sees it differently. You never know: she might desperately want out herself.
Even if the bylaws give her 51% AND the power therefore to make decisions, she can't just do whatever she likes. Chances are, significant amounts of money and customer lists and other IP are involved, so you may also need a lawyer/accountant to give legal and accounting help.
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