Bezirdjian

In this shareholder derivative action, plaintiff Lawrence Bezirdjian appeals the trial court’s orders granting nominal defendant Chevron Corporation’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissing his lawsuit. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 22, 2007, plaintiff filed a shareholder derivative complaint on behalf of Chevron Corporation (Chevron) against current and certain former members of its board of directors (Board). The complaint contains counts for breach of fiduciary duties, gross mismanagement, constructive fraud, and waste of corporate assets, in connection with illicit payments Chevron allegedly made to Saddam Hussein in exchange for Iraqi oil from 2000 to 2003. In the complaint, plaintiff acknowledged that the majority of his factual allegations were derived from an article published by The New York Times on May 8, 2007, entitled Chevron Seen Settling Case on Iraq Oil. He also alleged that he was excused from making a prefiling demand on the Board to institute this action because such demand would be futile. Specifically, he stated “the [Board] cannot exercise independent objective judgment in deciding whether to bring this…