UPDATE: Del. business group pledges action after court upholds force sell decision

A pro-business coalition is taking action after the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the court-ordered sale of a successful translation company.

In a 4-1 ruling Monday, justices affirmed a chancery court ruling to sell TransPerfect Global in 2015.

TransPerfect, founded by Phillip Shawe and Elizabeth Elting, is incorporated in Delaware with offices in more than 90 cities worldwide.

The judge concluded the feuding co-founders were hopelessly deadlocked over management; however, the group Citizens For A Pro-Business Delaware says they are doing everything they can to keep the company together despite this decision.

Chris Coffey, campaign manager for the coalition, says they have met with the Corporate Bar Committee in Delaware in hopes of passing legislation regarding forced sales. The measure would require a three year waiting period before a judge can force the sale of a profitable company such as TransPerfect.

In a phone interview Tuesday with 47ABC, Coffey explains he feels the legality issue of the case overshadowed the reality employees of the company are now facing.

Of the thousands employed at TransPerfect, Coffey says roughly 100 are based out of Philadelphia and living in the Delaware area.

"The fact of the matter is, there are 4,000 folks are directly impacted here who don't know how they're going to get their kids mortgage paid, their mortgage paid, their kids' college bills paid, meals on the table," he says. "These are real people with real jobs who have been directly impacted by the state of Delaware."

Along with Monday's ruling, the court also upheld an order directing Shawe to pay Elting more than 7 million dollars in fees and expenses.

The Associated Press reports these are sanctions for his "deplorable behavior" in the lawsuit.