Shippenville-Elk Volunteer Fire Department v. Ladies Auxiliary of the Shippenville-Elk Township Volunteer Fire Department

In Shippenville-Elk Volunteer Fire Department v. Ladies Auxiliary of the Shippenville-Elk Township Volunteer Fire Department, 680 A.2d 923 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996), petition for allowance of appeal denied, 547 Pa. 720, 688 A.2d 174 (1997), a fire department filed a complaint in equity against the ladies' auxiliary in an attempt to obtain funds the auxiliary had collected but refused to give to the department. The trial court in that case concluded that the auxiliary was not an entity distinct from the department, but rather was created to help the department. The court opined that the auxiliary and department had a fiduciary relationship and to allow the auxiliary to keep the funds would unjustly enrich the auxiliary.