The Supreme Court of Guam on Thursday vacated a lower court’s ruling in a long-running dispute involving the Alupang Beach Tower, finding that the Superior Court erred in dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims and misapplied legal standards on standing and injunctive relief.
In its opinion in Cho v. Alupang Beach Club, Inc., 2025 Guam 3, authored by Justice F. Philip Carbullido and joined by Chief Justice Robert J. Torres and Justice Katherine A. Maraman, the high court sided with plaintiffs Hee K. Cho and Min S. Cho. The case stems from a 2004 settlement agreement that restricted Alupang Beach Club, Inc. (ABC) from challenging certain governance and operational decisions.
The justices held that the Superior Court wrongly dismissed the Chos’ claims for lack of standing, noting that as parties to the settlement agreement, they had traditional standing to enforce its terms. The opinion also faulted the trial court for concluding the Chos abandoned their injunctive relief claims, pointing out that under Guam’s summary judgment rules, plaintiffs are not obligated to preemptively refute arguments that were never raised by defendants.
The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Superior Court for further proceedings. The trial court must now determine whether the settlement agreement applies to the Chos’ proposed amendments to Alupang Beach Tower’s governing documents and whether ABC’s actions breached its contractual obligations.