Archdiocese of Milwaukee v. Does (In re Archdiocese of Milwaukee)

482 B.R. 792, 2012 WL 5331221
District Court, E.D. Wisconsin·Decided October 29, 2012·No. Bankruptcy No. 11-20059-svk; Nos. 12-C-580, 12-C-288, 12-C-289, 12-C-290, 12-C-291, 12-C-292, 12-C-512·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

[797] DECISION AND ORDER

RUDOLPH T. RANDA, District Judge.

The above-captioned appeals arise out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Also before the Court is the Archdiocese’s motion for the district court to withdraw the reference to the bankruptcy court for purposes of claim allowance and disallowance. The underlying claims generally allege that the Archdiocese knowingly permitted pedophile priests to serve in the claimants’ respective parishes without warning the claimants or their families of the dangers posed by those priests. More than 550 claims were filed. With respect to certain claimants, the bankruptcy court issued a ruling dismissing the negligence claims and allowing the fraud claims to proceed past summary judgment. The Archdiocese appeals the latter ruling, and the claimants appeal the former. For the reasons that follow, the Court lacks jurisdiction to decide any of these appeals, and the reference will not be withdrawn.

The Court does have jurisdiction over the appeal of one claimant, whose claim was dismissed pursuant to a settlement agreement. The bankruptcy court’s decision to dismiss this claim is affirmed.

Finally, the claimants move to withdraw an additional appeal relating to the sealing or unsealing of certain documents. The Archdiocese does not oppose this motion, which is granted.

I. Case Nos. 12-C-288 and 289

The first two appeals relate to the fraud claims of John Does A-12 and A-13. A-12 alleges that he was sexually abused by Father Franklyn Becker, the Associate Pastor at Holy Family Parish in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, from 1972 through 1974 when he was approximately thirteen to sixteen years old. A-13 alleges that he was sexually abused by Robert Schaefer, the Choir Director at St. Catherine Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1976 through 1982 when he was approximately ten to sixteen years old. The Archdiocese moved for summary judgment on these claims, arguing that they were barred by Wisconsin’s six-year statute of limitations for fraud claims. Wis. Stat. § 893.93(l)(b). The bankruptcy court denied this motion, holding that the issue of when the claimants discovered or should have discovered their fraud claims is an issue of fact for trial. In re Archdiocese of Milwaukee, 470 B.R. 495, 504 (Bankr.E.D.Wis.2012).

This is an interlocutory appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3) (“The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction to hear appeals ... with leave of the court, from other interlocutory orders and decrees”). In this context, district courts generally apply the standard set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), which governs interlocutory appeals from the district court to the court of appeals. In re OBT Partners, 218 B.R. 418, 419 (N.D.Ill.1998); In re Energy Insulation, Inc., 143 B.R. 490, 493 (N.D.Ill.1992). Under that test, an interlocutory appeal is appropriate when it involves a controlling question of law over which there is a substantial ground for difference of opinion, and an immediate appeal from the order may materially advance the termination of the litigation. § 1292(b); Trustee of Jartran, Inc. v. Winston & Strawn, 208 B.R. 898, 900 (N.D.Ill.1997). The test is conjunctive, meaning that all of the requirements must be satisfied. Ahrenholz v. Bd. of Trustees of the Univ. of Ill., 219 F.3d 674, 676 (7th Cir.2000). Ultimately, the party seeking an interlocutory appeal must show that “exceptional circumstances justify a departure from the basic policy of postponing appellate review until after the entry of a [798] final judgment.” Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 475, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978).

A cause of action for fraud “is not deemed to have accrued until the discovery, by the aggrieved party, of the facts constituting the fraud.” § 893.93(l)(b). The bankruptcy court explained that there is a “disputed issue of material fact about whether the evidence here put the Claimants on notice of the Debtor’s alleged fraud sufficient to start the statute of limitations clock.” 470 B.R. at 504. The denial of a motion for summary judgment is a “paradigmatic example of an interlocutory order that normally is not appealable,” especially where the party opposing summary judgment raises a genuine issue of material fact. Ahrenholz at 676. “We think ‘question of law’ as used in section 1292(b) has reference to a question of the meaning of a statutory or constitutional provision, regulation, or common law doctrine rather than to whether the party opposing summary judgment had raised a genuine issue of material fact.... The idea was that if a case turned on a pure question of law, something the court of appeals could decide quickly and cleanly without having to study the record, the court should be enabled to do so without having to wait till the end of the case.... But to decide whether summary judgment was properly granted requires hunting through the record compiled in the summary judgment proceeding to see whether there may be a genuine issue of material fact lurking there....” Id. at 676-77 (internal citations omitted).

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Archdiocese of Milwaukee v. Does (In re Archdiocese of Milwaukee), 482 B.R. 792, 2012 WL 5331221 (E.D. Wis. 2012).

482 B.R. 792 (Archdiocese of Milwaukee v. Does (In re Archdiocese of Milwaukee)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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