Driver, Left Off AmeriServ Board Ballot, Comes Up Short in Court

AmeriServ Financial Inc. has defeated litigation brought by an activist investment firm that said the bank wielded a board nomination bylaw unfairly to reject its slate on a pretext.

Judge Stephanie L. Haines dismissed the case Wednesday, relying heavily on her earlier ruling denying a request by a Driver Management Co. affiliate for an injunction that would have forced AmeriServ to put its proposed directors on the shareholder ballot. The investor vote went forward in May without Driver’s nominees.

“The issues and arguments presented to the court for the preliminary injunction were similar, if not identical,” and “the relief sought ...