Judge Separates Owners in Business Feud : Oxnard: Restraining order bars one side from going within 50 feet of the headquarters of the potted plant firm.
A Ventura County judge has intervened in a feud between the owners of a $16-million potted plant business in Oxnard--a battle that has allegedly featured threats, lockouts and the enlistment of a kick boxer to intimidate employees.
At one point, the chairman of Milgro Nursery Inc. was vying with the firm’s president for control of the company’s offices, barking contradictory orders to confused employees, according to a civil complaint filed by Gary F. Miller, Milgro’s president.
In response to the complaint, Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Thompson issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday, barring Milgro Chairman Mahmood Jafroodi and his associates from going within 50 feet of the company’s headquarters.
A hearing on Miller’s request for a permanent injunction will be held April 2 before Superior Court Judge Robert D. Aldrich.
Jafroodi denied the allegations Thursday, saying that they are “greatly exaggerated, to say the least” and that a formal response will be filed.
The dispute comes just as Milgro--a major supplier of potted plants to grocery stores, florists and other customers--is preparing for the busy Easter season, Miller’s complaint says.
The complaint gives this account:
Miller and Jafroodi have been partners in Milgro since it was incorporated in 1980. Each has a 50% interest in the company, but by mutual agreement Jafroodi has been a silent partner while Miller has day-to-day charge of the business.
Under Miller’s direction, Milgro’s gross receipts have increased from $1.7 million to $16 million in the past decade, and its operations have grown to encompass 7,500 square feet of greenhouse space on North Victoria Avenue.
But since February, the complaint says, the dispute between the corporate leaders has turned Milgro’s headquarters into a hothouse of frayed tempers.
Early last month, Jafroodi took several documents from Milgro headquarters, the complaint says, and during the night of Feb. 11 he had the locks changed. This prevented employees from working until Miller had the locks changed again.
On March 11, Jafroodi, his son, and a gradually increasing number of assistants began occupying the cramped offices in the converted farmhouse, according to the complaint.
Jafroodi and up to four assistants, including one who was identified as a kick boxer, “commenced to occupy desks, demand phones and documents and services from employees,” the complaint says, and insisted on sharing Miller’s office.
Last Friday, Miller brought in guards to stand at the doors of his office and the marketing director’s quarters. In response, Jafroodi had two of his assistants stand guard next to Miller’s guards.
The incident brought one employee to tears, the complaint says.
“Employees cannot move about the tiny office,” the complaint says. “Employees are asked to perform work for Mr. Jafroodi. . . . Customers have been unable to place business orders. . . . The defendant’s goal appears to be to so disrupt the business and intimidate the president that he will accede to whatever demands are made.”
Miller said he made numerous attempts to resolve the dispute, all of which were rebuffed. On one occasion, he said, Jafroodi threatened to impair him for life “unless I got down on my knees and begged him for forgiveness in front of his son.”
Miller said Jafroodi has not accused him of any financial impropriety.
“The only concerns that I am aware Mr. Jafroodi has is that he wants to take over the running of the business from me, that his pride has been damaged, and that he wants an office the company cannot provide,” Miller said.
He said eight people already work in the 1,000-square-foot house and there is no way to provide an office for Jafroodi.
Jafroodi, a native of Iran who has master’s degrees in journalism and business administration from American universities, said Milgro represents only about 25% of his business interests. Pointing to his sumptuously appointed office in a Camarillo office building he owns, he said he does not lack room to work.
But his attorney, Richard M. Norman, said Jafroodi wants to be closer to the company’s books and records. Norman said he questions why Miller “wants to keep Mr. Jafroodi from a business in which he is 50% owner and chairman of the board. . . . There is certainly room for Mr. Jafroodi to have a desk.
“I would propose that these two men can exist side by side and carry on their business like mature and sophisticated businessmen.”
