People Ex Rel. Groman v. Sinai Temple

This proceeding in quo warranto was brought by the Attorney General upon the complaint of certain private persons to determine whether the defendant corporation is unlawfully exercising its corporate franchise. Defendant is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation for religious and cemetery purposes. (Corp. Code, § 9200.) The substance of the complaint is that defendant is operating its cemetery as a profit-making business, competing in the market with other cemeteries and making a profit which is currently being used to pay off the purchase price of its cemetery property.

A demurrer to the complaint was sustained with leave to amend. Plaintiff then filed an amended complaint to which the court sustained a general demurrer without leave, and dismissed the action. Plaintiff is appealing from the judgment.

The issue presented here has not previously been considered by the appellate courts of this state.

Activities of Defendant Corporation

The history and conduct of defendant will be stated as set forth in the first amended complaint and the exhibits attached thereto.

Defendant was organized in 1908 “as a religious corporation, and not for the object of any pecuniary…