Czyzewski v. Jevic Transportation, Inc. (In re Jevic Holding Corp.)

496 B.R. 151, 38 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1422, 2013 WL 1963242, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 1927, 57 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 273
United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware·Decided May 10, 2013·No. Bankruptcy No. 08-11006 (BLS); Adversary No. 08-50662·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

OPINION1

BRENDAN LINEHAN SHANNON, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before the Court is a motion for summary judgment on claims arising under the WARN Act.2 Casimir Czyzewski, Melvin L. Myers, Jeffrey Oehlers, Arthur E. Perigard, and Daniel C. Richards, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated (collectively, the “Class Plaintiffs”) initiated this adversary proceeding against Defendants Jevic, Jevic Holding Corp., Creek Road Properties, LLC (collectively, the “Debtors”), and Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (“Sun Cap”), the Debtors’ ultimate parent.3 After the close of discovery, Class Plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment (the “MSJ”) [Adv. Docket No. 191] arguing that the Debtors are liable under the WARN Act and the New Jersey WARN Act because they did not give employees sufficient notice of termination and further contending that the Debtors cannot demonstrate that they should be excused from complying with these statutes. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant Class Plaintiffs’ MSJ in part and deny in part.

I. BACKGROUND

The material facts are largely undisputed. Jevic Transportation, Inc. (“Jevic”) began operations in 1981 and described itself as providing a hybrid less-than-truckload and truckload carrier service for regional and inter-regional time definite delivery across the United States and parts of Canada. All of the Debtors’ operations occurred through Jevic. Prior to filing these chapter 11 cases in 2008, Jevic employed approximately 1,785 employees and was headquartered in Delanco, New Jersey with its largest terminal located there. The Debtors operated nine additional terminals and one sales office throughout the United States. Debtor Creek Road Properties, LLC held no assets and had no operations. Similarly, Debtor Jevic Holding Corp. had no independent operations, but owns 100% of the issued and outstanding stock of Jevic.

Beginning in 2006, the Debtors’ revenue declined due to a variety of factors including the decline in the housing market, the tightening of the credit markets, and the slowdown in the automotive industry, all of which led to a nationwide decline in freight volumes.4 In early 2006, the Debtors contemplated a sale or liquidation, and even filing for bankruptcy.5

On June 30, 2006, Sun Transportation, LLC (“Sun Trans”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Defendant Sun Cap acquired the Debtors in a leveraged buyout, which included an $85 million revolving credit facility from a bank group led by CIT. Sun Cap, through Sun Trans, paid $1 million to Jevic Holding Corp., which was created to effectuate the acquisition of all of Jevie’s [155] shares. CIT’s financing agreement required that the Debtors maintain assets and collateral of at least $5 million in order to access its line of credit.

Throughout 2007, the Debtors’ business struggled due to the general economic downturn and the negative impact of fuel surcharges on its profitability. While the Debtors instituted cost-saving strategies, Sun Cap proposed to CIT numerous capital investments in the Debtors in exchange for increased credit availability. By the end of 2007, the Debtors’ assets fell below $5 million, in default of CIT’s financing covenant. Thereafter, CIT and the Debtors entered into a forbearance agreement that went into effect on January 8, 2008 and was set to expire on February 29th.6 The forbearance agreement called for Sun Cap to provide a $2 million guarantee, which it did. Jevic met all of CIT’s requirements during the first forbearance period.7 When the forbearance period was about to expire, CIT agreed to extend the forbearance period through April 2008.

In February 2008, Jevic entered into an agreement for consulting services with Morris Anderson & Associates, Ltd. (“Morris Anderson”). By the end of February, Morris Anderson prepared and circulated a 18-week cash flow projection showing that Jevic would keep assets and collateral above the $5 million limit until at least May 9, 2008.

Also in February, Jevic entered into an agreement with Black Management Advis-ors to retain Brian Cassady as Interim Vice President. Cassady’s engagement was to provide consulting services consisting of operational and financial consulting as well as advice and recommendations to Jevic on strategic, management, operational, financial, and business restructuring matters as requested by Jevic’s board. Additionally, Jevic retained investment bank Stifel Nicolaus to seek potential buyers for the company.

On March 27, 2008, CIT presented Sun Cap with two options: (i) Sun Cap would invest additional funds in Jevic in exchange for a long-term forbearance agreement; or (ii) Sun Cap would receive 45-day forbearance, which was set to expire on May 19th, in exchange for beginning an active sale process.8 Sun Cap chose not to invest more money in Jevic, and Jevic therefore began an active sale process.

In early April 2008, Daniel Dooley, a Morris Anderson employee who was working on the Jevic project, was retained as the Debtors’ Chief Restructuring Officer (“CRO”). Jevic announced a reorganization plan, which included closing unprofitable facilities and liquidating assets. Implementation of this plan was intended to allow Jevic to realize monthly savings and maintain its assets above $5 million. The reorganization would not be fully implemented until the beginning of June 2008, by which time Jevic was estimated to save approximately $1.0-1.4 million monthly. However, decreased sales, increasing costs, and disappointing equipment appraisal values meant that Jevic failed to meet its earlier optimistic projection. By the end of April, Jevic’s assets again fell below $5 million, in default of CIT’s financing covenant.

During these months, Jevic met with two potential buyers, Pitt Ohio and New Century, and Pitt Ohio submitted a bid [156] letter expressing preliminary interest.9 However, neither buyer was willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which halted the sale process. Jevic also met with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA”) to seek capital,10 but to no avail.

By May 13, 2008, Jevic had only two options: sell the company to Pitt Ohio or prepare for bankruptcy. CIT refused to fund further borrowing unless Sun Cap invested more money to fund a bridge to complete the sale to Pitt Ohio. Sun Cap would need to spend more money to close the sale than the sale would generate, which it was unwilling to do. Three days later, on May 16, 2008, with no viable sale or funding available to Jevic and with the forbearance agreement with CIT expiring, Jevic’s board formally authorized a bankruptcy filing.

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Czyzewski v. Jevic Transportation, Inc. (In re Jevic Holding Corp.), 496 B.R. 151, 38 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1422, 2013 WL 1963242, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 1927, 57 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 273 (Del. 2013).

496 B.R. 151 (Czyzewski v. Jevic Transportation, Inc. (In re Jevic Holding Corp.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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