A Delaware Chancery judge tossed derivative claims against DuPont Co.’s directors connected to the chemical company’s billion-dollar soybean antitrust and intellectual property fight with Monsanto Co., ruling in an opinion made public Tuesday that the board didn’t breach its fiduciary duties when it refused the suing shareholder’s litigation demand.
In a 95-page opinion, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III wrote that while the suing shareholder may not agree with the DuPont board’s decision not to pursue wrongdoing claims against company brass — claims that alleged breaches that led to a bitter federal court fight with Monsanto and a trial the yielded an eye-popping $1 billion jury verdict against DuPont and sanctions from a Missouri federal court — the question before him was not whether wrongdoing occurred or if the targets are liable.