In its August 27th post-trial opinion, In re Dole Food Co., Inc. Stockholder Litigation, the Delaware Chancery Court held Dole executives David Murdock and Michael Carter personally liable for $148 million in damages for undermining and interfering with the special committee's efforts to obtain a fair price for Dole's minority stockholders following Murdock's decision to take the Company private in 2013. The decision emphasizes that transactions with a controlling stockholder that employ the dual procedural protections of independent director and "majority of the minority" approval must actually adhere to the substance and purpose of those protections.