Sugarman

FACTS

1. The Parties Plaintiff is the former chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of defendants Banc of California, Inc., and Banc of California, N.A. (Banc). He resigned his positions at Banc on January 23, 2017. The Steven and Ainslie Sugarman Living Trust, a revocable living trust and stockholder in Banc, is also a plaintiff. For convenience, we refer to both Mr. Sugarman and the trust in the singular as plaintiff. Plaintiff sued Banc and the Banc individuals over statements they made after plaintiff’s resignation. The Banc individual defendants were executives or members of the board of directors and include Halle Benett, Hugh Boyle, John Grosvenor, Jeffrey Karish, Richard Lashley, Jonah Schnel and Robert Sznewajs. When plaintiff resigned, Mr. Sznewajs became chairman of the board. Mr. Boyle was Banc’s chief risk officer and became interim CEO as well when plaintiff resigned. Mr. Grosvenor was general counsel and corporate secretary. 2. The Complaint The operative complaint spans 166 pages, plus more than 600 pages of attached exhibits. Plaintiff alleged 12 causes of action. The seven causes of action at issue in these appeals fall

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