A group of siblings who feared mismanagement at K. Hall & Sons Enterprises Inc. of Little Rock, which operates the restaurant K. Hall & Sons Produce, can inspect the books, a Pulaski County Circuit Court recently ruled.
Based on the lawsuit brought by the siblings against their brothers in November, “it is clear that harm is ongoing, and Defendants have indicated through their actions that they will continue to deny Plaintiffs their right to inspect Company records,” wrote Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Herbert Wright in a Dec. 6 order for preliminary injunction.
The plaintiffs are four siblings and the son of one of the siblings: Kathryn Hendrix, Knoxie Hall Jr., Rosalind Molden and Gail Marshall and her son Jonathan Marshall, all of Little Rock. They asked for a preliminary injunction against their brothers, Curtis Hall and David Hall, both of Little Rock, and the family business, which also operates a wholesale food distribution system. David Hall is the president of the company and Curtis is the vice president.
Wright said the Hall brothers have until Dec. 21 to allow the plaintiffs a “reasonable opportunity” to inspect the company’s records.
Wright also told the defendants not to destroy or alter any corporate documents or sell any property.
The plaintiffs went to court to get access to the company’s books, after they alleged that the brothers didn’t hand them over, according to the lawsuit.
The siblings also said in the lawsuit that they haven’t received distributions from the company in “many years, if ever.”
The plaintiffs wanted to review the company’s records to determine if the business has been mismanaged. They also sought to prevent the brothers from selling or disposing of any of the company’s assets in the meantime.
David Hall told Arkansas Business on Monday, “we have no comment at this time.”
The parties in the case, except for Jonathan Marshall, are the adult children of the late Knoxie Hall Sr. and Estella Marie Crenshaw Hall, who were elected to the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2016.
The entry on the Black Hall of Fame’s website said that the couple’s children entered into the family business in 1984. Its restaurant is famous for its hamburgers and weekly seafood boils, the website said.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Chris Stevens and David Fuqua of Fuqua Campbell of Little Rock.
