A non-monetary settlement of a class action brought against a $2.7 billion acquisition in the building materials industry has been rejected by a judge who found the objecting plaintiffs are in the business of “trying to make money from litigation.”

In an opinion last week, Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich (See Profile) said that plaintiff City Trade Fund is essentially an E*Trade brokerage account, and its partners Lawrence Bass and Andres Carullo purchased $1,200 in shares in Martin Marietta Materials (MMM) in order to engage the Brualdi Law Firm to file suit against MMM's purchase of Texas Industries.

According to Kornreich's opinion, Brualdi has filed 13 lawsuits in the Commercial Division on behalf of various partnerships, including CTF, in the case of City Trading Fund v. Nye, 6516682014.