Anthony v. Mazon
Filed 6/27/06 Anthony v. Mazon CA4/3
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION THREE
| MICHAEL ANTHONY, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. BERNARD MAZON et al., Defendants and Appellants. | G035734 (Super. Ct. No. 03CC09517) O P I N I O N |
Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Gregory Munoz, Judge. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Bononi Law Group, Michael J. Bononi and Nicole K. Zaccheo for Defendants and Appellants.
Callahan & Blaine and Jim P. Mahacek for Plaintiff and Appellant.
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This case is somewhat akin to deciding a dispute between Darth Vader[1] and the Borg,[2] or if you prefer a classical metaphor, Scylla and Charybdis.[3] There is no justice to be done here. The parties conspired in a despicable scheme to hide assets during marital dissolution and child support proceedings. The defendants retained those assets; the plaintiff sued to get them back. Both now rely on arguments relating to unclean hands, the sanctity of the judicial process, and public policy, all of which are laughable, considering the circumstances.
As much as we might prefer an outcome in which neither party profits from its wrongful conduct, it is not within our purview to do so. One of these undeserving parties, unfortunately, has to prevail.[4] For the reasons discussed below, we find the defendants' arguments without legal merit, except as to the punitive damage award. We therefore affirm the judgment except as to the punitive damage award, which is reversed.
I
FACTS
As of May 2001, Michael Anthony was the president and sole shareholder of Anthony & Morgan Insurance Services, Inc., (Anthony & Morgan) a surety company. His income from the business was substantial, at least several million dollars during 2000 and 2001. One of Anthony & Morgan's accounts was a Norwegian shipbuilding firm known as Kvaerner. Contract underwriter Andrew Sysyn worked with Anthony on the Kvaerner account to procure bonds for the firm.
In April 2001, Anthony hired Bernard Mazon (Mazon) as executive vice- president and chief operating officer of Anthony & Morgan. Mazon had been married to Anthony's sister, Jane,[5] for 35 years. His salary was $200,000 per year plus 17 percent of the company's bonus pool, and if the company was sold during his employment he would be entitled to 25 percent.
Anthony had been married to Cheri Anthony (Cheri) since 1994. They had two children. In 1999, the couple separated, but then reconciled, reaching a post-nuptial agreement they referred to as a post-marital separation/reconciliation agreement. Among other provisions, this agreement converted Anthony & Morgan from community property to Anthony's separate property for consideration of $100,000, given certain contingencies. The reconciliation lasted until 2001, when divorce proceedings were renewed.
Anthony formulated a strategy with Bernard and Jane Mazon (the Mazons) to shield his assets during the divorce. According to Anthony, he and the Mazons entered into an oral agreement whereby retained earnings (profits) from Anthony & Morgan would be paid to Mazon as â€
