The lawsuit, Hee Shen Cemetery and Benevolent Association v. Yeong Wo Association et al., was filed in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District, Division Two. The court case ID is A165514 and it was filed on March 5, 2024. The dispute revolves around a contested election for the leadership of Yeong Wo Association.
Hee Shen Cemetery and Benevolent Association (Hee Shen), one of the 12 member organizations of Yeong Wo Association (Yeong Wo), asked the trial court to intervene in a disputed election for Yeong Wo’s leadership. The trial court found that Yeong Wo’s bylaws were clear and unambiguous, supporting Hee Shen's argument that the bylaws restricted the candidates for Yeong Wo’s presidential elections.
However, this decision was overturned by the appellate court stating that the trial court's finding was not supported by substantial evidence and that its remedy was inappropriate as a matter of law. It further concluded that judicial intervention is only appropriate if an association has abused its discretion by unreasonably construing a plain and unambiguous provision of its bylaws.
Hee Shen is seeking for judgment to void Yeong Wo’s presidential election for its 2021-2022 term and order a new election for a full two-year term. However, due to lack of substantial evidence supporting this claim, the appellate court reversed the judgment.