The South Dakota Supreme Court has closed another chapter in Richard Millner's dairy shenanigans in Veblen. In a unanimous decision issued Wednesday, the justices upheld Fifth Circuit Judge Jack Von Wald's issuance of summary judgment in favor of defendants Richard Millner and Veblen's Multi-Community Cooperative Dairy, which became the environmental-regulation-breaking, tax-dodging, and ultimately failed Veblen West Dairy. The court agreed with Von Wald that the minority shareholders suing Millner and MCC failed to offer prima facie evidence of commercial wrong-doing. The plaintiffs also abused the discovery process by skipping depositions and had to pay Millner and MCC some attorney fees as penalty.
This is one unusual stroke of good fortune for Millner's beleaguered dairy enterprises. His Shortfoot Calf Ranch headquarters burned down last November; the state fire marshall says the cause remains "undecided." And one of his employees just got busted for selling methamphetamines to undercover agents three times in one week, including one sting-sale that took place on Millner's Five Star Dairy near Milnor, North Dakota. Mmmm... might want to check what's in that milk.
The same Supreme court that said we have no right to refer bad zoning ordinances.