Bartel v. Charles Kurz & Co.

110 F. Supp. 3d 579, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81387, 2015 WL 3852607
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 22, 2015
DocketMDL No. 875; Civil Action No. 2:11-cv-30511-ER
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 110 F. Supp. 3d 579 (Bartel v. Charles Kurz & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bartel v. Charles Kurz & Co., 110 F. Supp. 3d 579, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81387, 2015 WL 3852607 (E.D. Pa. 2015).

Opinion

.MEMORANDUM

EDUARDO C. ROBRENO, District Judge.

This case was transferred in January 2011 from the United State District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where it became part of the consolidated asbestos products liability multidistrict litigation (MDL 875). The case was assigned to the Court’s maritime docket (“MARDOC”). Willard E. Bartel (“Plaintiff’), Administrator of the Estate of James T. McQueen, alleges that James, McQueen (“Decedent” or “Mr. McQueen”) was exposed to asbestos while working aboard various ships. Plaintiff asserts that Decedent developed an asbestos-related illness as a result of his exposure to asbestos aboard those ships.

For the reasons that follow, the Court will deny Defendants’ motion.

1. BACKGROUND

In September of 1996, Mr. McQueen brought claims against various defendants, including various shipowners represented by Thompson Hiñe LLP (“Defendants” or “the Thompson Hine Shipowners”). By way of Order dated March 14, 1997, Judge Charles Weiner1 dismissed those claims administratively, leaving open the possibility for the action to be pursued at a later, unspecified date.2 Approximately nine [583]*583years later, on October 15, 2005, Mr. McQueen filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 7 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. The bankruptcy case was closed approximately six months later, on March 1, 2006. On January 24, 2011 — approximately five years after the bankruptcy case was closed and- over fourteen years after Mr. McQueen first filed his asbestos action— the MDL Court reinstated Mr. McQueen’s asbestos action which had been dismissed by Judge Weiner in 1997. A summary of this timeline of events is as follows:

• September 1996 — Asbestos action filed
• March 1997 — Asbestos action administratively dismissed
• October 2005 — Bankruptcy action filed
• March 2006 — Bankruptcy action closed
• January 2011 — Asbestos action reinstated

The Thompson Hine Shipowners have moved for summary judgment, arguing that (1) Plaintiffs claims are barred by way of judicial estoppel because Mr. McQueen failed to disclose the asbestos action as an asset in his bankruptcy filing, and (2) Plaintiff cannot pursue the asbestos action because it is now owned by the bankruptcy estate.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a). “A motion for summary judgment will not be defeated by ‘the mere existence’ of some disputed facts, but will be denied when there is a genuine issue of material fact.” Am. Eagle Outfitters v. Lyle & Scott Ltd., 584 F.3d 575, 581 (3d Cir.2009) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). A fact is “material” if proof of its existence or non-existence might affect the outcome of the litigation, and a dispute is “genuine” if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

In undertaking this analysis, the court views the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. “After making all reasonable inferences in the nonmoving party’s favor, there is a genuine issue of material fact if a reasonable jury could find for the nonmoving party.” Pignataro v. Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J., 593 F.3d 265, 268 (3d Cir.2010) (citing Reliance Ins. Co. v. Moessner, 121 F.3d 895, 900 (3d Cir.1997)). While the moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, meeting this obligation shifts the burden .to the non-moving party who must “set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

[584]*584B. The Applicable Law

The parties appear to assume that Defendants’ legal arguments regarding “judicial estoppel” and the “real party-in interest” are matters of federal law that' should be decided in the first instance by the Court. The Court agrees with this approach. See Ryan Operations G.P. v. Santiam-Midwest Lumber Co., 81 F.3d 355, 358 (3d Cir.1996).3 In matters of federal law, the MDL transferee court applies the law of the circuit where it sits, which in this case is the law of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Various Plaintiffs v. Various Defendants (“Oil Field Cases”), 673 F.Supp.2d 358, 362-63 (E.D.Pa.2009) (Robreno, J.). Therefore, the Court will apply Third Circuit law in deciding the issues raised by Defendants’ motion.

III. THE PARTIES’ ARGUMENTS

A. Judicial Estoppel

Defendants contend that Plaintiffs claims are barred on grounds of judicial estoppel. Specifically, they contend that Mr. McQueen took irreconcilably inconsistent positions in his bankruptcy proceeding and the instant proceeding. Defendants state that Mr. McQueen concealed the existence of his asbestos claims when filing for bankruptcy by not reporting them as pending or. likely claims on Schedule B (“Personal Property”), while simultaneously asserting such claims in the current and then-pending asbestos action. They further assert that a finding of bad faith is warranted because Mr. McQueen had knowledge of the asbestos claims at the time that he filed for bankruptcy and had a motive to conceal the claims from the Bankruptcy Court (i.e., to keep any proceeds of the claims while reducing the amount of assets available for distribution amongst the creditors — a motive Defendants assert is common to nearly all debtors in bankruptcy). Finally, Defendants contend that no lesser remedy is warranted because the sanction of barring the asbestos claims is necessary to (1) keep Plaintiff from profiting from the omission and (2) preserve the integrity of the bankruptcy proceedings.

Plaintiff contends that the asbestos claims are not barred on grounds of judicial estoppel. First, Plaintiff contends that Mr. McQueen did not take inconsistent positions between his bankruptcy filing and the present asbestos action because at the time of his bankruptcy filing — and throughout the entire duration of that action — his asbestos claims were dismissed, such that he was not required to list them as an asset in his bankruptcy action. Moreover, Plaintiff argues that even if Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
110 F. Supp. 3d 579, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81387, 2015 WL 3852607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bartel-v-charles-kurz-co-paed-2015.