Plaintiff Darrell Smith sued defendants Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF), Shann Finlinson, Thane Marshall, Corey Cattle Company, LLC (Corey Cattle), and Mike Corey on Thursday in the Fourth Judicial District Court of Millard County in the State of Utah.
The plaintiff owns Rising Sun Cattle Company, LLC, which is a “small cattle operation that specializes in raising and selling premium full blood and F1 Wagyu cattle.” One of the defendants, Corey Cattle, operates a cattle feed lot where independent ranchers can house their cattle.
As is typical for independent ranchers, the plaintiff began using the feeding lots provided by the defendant. In exchange for watching and caring for the cattle, Smith would pay Corey Cattle food and housing costs for the cattle. The agreement went a step farther, as Corey Cattle was allowed to “sell their [Rising Sun] cattle so long as Corey Cattle remitted all sales proceeds after deducting the costs of food and housing.”
After a discrepancy occurred where the plaintiff claimed that Corey Cattle failed to provide his company with almost $68,000.00 of their proceeds, Smith revoked the ability of Corey Cattle to sell Rising Sun cattle. He instructed the defendant to contact him when potential sales presented themselves.
Over the course of two years, Smith purchased 282 cattle. The defendant agreed to re-brand the cattle with the Rising Sun mark when they arrived at Corey Cattle but failed to do so. Defendant Corey later transferred all 282 of Smith’s cattle out of state without his knowledge or consent.
Since Utah law and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food require a brand inspection prior to moving cattle in order to verify the ownership, Corey had one conducted by Defendant Finlinson. Finlinson noted in the record that Smith’s 282 cattle belonged to Titan Livestock when they really belonged to Rising Sun. Defendant Marshall later represented to Smith that no mistakes had been made by Finlinson during the inspection yet refused to provide records of any sort to him.
At the time of the inspection and transfer, Defendant Corey owed Titan millions of dollars for “stolen cattle and fraudulent feeding contracts.” He illegally misrepresented his ownership of Smith’s cattle in order to satisfy his personal debt with Titan. When Smith discovered his cattle had been sold, Corey assured him that he would receive all the proceeds. However, Corey later explained that the cattle had not been sold but simply released to Titan.
The complaint cites negligence, willful misconduct, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, fraudulent misrepresentation, conversion, and unjust enrichment among other claims. These claims have led Smith to seek compensatory, punitive, general, special, and consequential damages, favorable judgement, a trial by jury, and any other relief deemed just by the court.
The plaintiff is represented by Dentons Durham Jones & Pinegar, while the defendants are represented by the Utah Attorney General’s Office.
