Business lawsuit lingers for Commissioner Rodino

Suit against board president stems from past partnership

By Roger Schneider

GOSHEN, Ind — The president of the Elkhart County Board of Commissioners is the subject of a business lawsuit that has been ongoing since 2004.

Timothy J. Dugle of Middlebury, a former business partner of commissioner Terry Rodino, is seeking a financial settlement over allegations of an unpaid loan and company payments of Rodino’s personal debts. Four other counts of allegations have been dismissed.

Rodino summed up his feelings about the lengthy case Wednesday, saying it was filed by “a disgruntled ex-employee.”

The lawsuit was filed before Rodino was elected to his first term as a commissioner in 2004. Rodino represents District 3, which includes the townships of Baugo, Cleveland, Harrison, Locke, Olive, Osolo and Union.

According to court documents, Rodino and Dugle were partners in Duro Inc., Duro Transport, Duro Recycling and Duro Realty at 24478 C.R. 45, Elkhart.

Dugle confirmed Tuesday he was once a minority shareholder in the companies but declined to comment about the lawsuit. Dugle is president of Molded Foam Products in Bristol.

The original complaint was filed in Elkhart Superior Court 1 in August of 2004 in Elkhart, but was transferred to Superior Court III in Goshen in October 2004, where Judge George Biddlecome has been overseeing the case.

During its long journey through the court system, four of the seven original counts of the lawsuit have been dismissed. Also, two attempts at mediating a settlement out of court have failed.

The second attempt at mediation occurred in June 2008. A settlement was agreed to initially, but, according to court records, that pact fell apart in August of 2008.

Since that time there has been limited activity in the case.

Rodino said a discovery hearing scheduled for Friday will bring the court and each side up to date on where the case stands.

“Everything has lain dormant for two years,” Rodino said.

Other discovery hearings have often been a point of contention in this case as Dugle has asked for business, financial and personnel records and attorneys for each side have argued over what records should be supplied and if the requests have been fulfilled as ordered.

Dugle’s attorneys have asked for records to support his allegations that Rodino used money from the companies to pay personal debts. In Count 3 of the lawsuit, Dugle alleges that Rodino used $206 per month from Duro Inc. to pay on a student loan for his son and $2,000 a month from Duro Recycling to make payments on his home equity line of credit.

Count 3 also alleges that Duro Inc. “did not properly hold shareholder meetings and meetings of the board of directors of the said corporation, that accordingly, officers and directors have not been appropriately elected on an annual basis for the said corporation, and Duro Inc. is therefore not properly conducting business under Indiana law.”

Rodino said Wednesday that he is the sole officer for the private corporation and holds all the corporate offices. Rodino is listed was director, secretary and president with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office. The state’s records show the company became inactive as an Indiana corporation in April 2008.

In Count 4 of the lawsuit, Dugle alleges that Rodino owes $33,527 plus interest on the principal balance of a loan he made to Duro Recycling and that loan was transferred to Duro Transport. Dugle said in the court document that payments of $2,500 per month were made from October 2002 through Feb. 2004 but then stopped.



Federal lawsuit dismissed

A related lawsuit brought by Dugle in U.S. District Court in South Bend was dismissed in April 2007 because the court ruled it did not have jurisdiction. That lawsuit contended that Duro Inc. blocked the sale of Dugle’s shares in Duro Inc. to Amit “Andrew” Shah, who was an employee and shareholder in Duro’s competitor, Global Inc. Dugal and Shah did complete that transaction in September 2008. Rodino confirmed Wednesday that Shah is a minority shareholder in Duro Inc.



Counts dismissed

The counts that were dismissed in Superior Court III included allegations of breach of an oral contract in May 2003, that Rodino should have continued to pay Dugle $1,000 per week in salary and pay $650 per month for a leased vehicle and that Dugle provided financial backing for Rodino by guaranteeing a line of credit with a bank and guaranteeing a mortgage on Duro Realty property.

Also dismissed, according to court documents, was a claim by Dugle that he suffered physical and emotional stress and fatigue as a result of the actions by Rodino.



Mystery files

There is a mystery in the case, that being there are two sealed files. Rodino said about the sealed files, “I don’t know anything about that.”

But after a request by Rodino’s attorneys, the court sealed affidavits in the case on May 23, 2008 and also sealed documents pertaining to a request by Dugle for the appointment of a receiver for company records.

Rodino’s attorneys also requested a gag order be placed on the case so the public could not review any of the documents, but apparently that motion was not granted as the large, battered paper file with hundreds of pages of legal documents sits on the court clerk’s shelf and is available for public inspection.

As for the chance of concluding the case anytime soon, Rodino said, “the ball has been in their court. We have just been waiting for something.”

Rodino said of the impact of the lawsuit on him and his business, “I don’t spend a lot of time on it. It’s pretty trivial.”

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