Pillsbury v. Honeywell Inc.

In the case of Pillsbury v. Honeywell Inc. it is clear that Pillsbury’s motivation for wanting access to Honeywell Inc.’s shareholder ledger and corporate recordings dealing with weapons manufacture was both personally and politically motivated. The facts of the case clearly state that Pillsbury was opposed to the Vietnam War and believed that America’s involvement in the war was wrong. The facts also state that Pillsbury bought several shares of Honeywell stock after finding out that a family trust that he was a beneficiary to owned several shares of Honeywell stock. Pillsbury bought several shares of Honeywell stock in his own name so that he could have a voice in Honeywell’s business affairs, and also to persuade the company to cease munitions productions. This is clear evidence that his motivations for wanting access to the records were both personally and politically motivated and not economically motivated as Lawyer O’Brien argued.
The fact that Pillsbury bought the Honeywell stock after the discovery that his family trust owned several hundred shares of Honeywell Inc. stock is also evident of his personal and political motivations. If the family trust wouldn’t have owned stock in Honeywell Inc., Pillsbury wouldn’t have purchased several shares of Honeywell in his own name. He didn’t just randomly choose a company in which to purchase stock, and he didn’t purchase the stock for monetary gain or any other financial purpose. He intentionally bought shares in Honeywell so that he could have a voice in Honeywell’s decisions and affairs after learning of the facts regarding his family trust which makes motivation personal in nature. There is no evidence that Pillsbury was concerned about the financial state of the company. He bought the shares of Honeywell stock for the sole purpose of persuading Honeywell Inc. into ceasing