In re Myers

546 B.R. 363, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 610, 2016 WL 772408
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 26, 2016
DocketCASE NO. 00-53489EE
StatusPublished

This text of 546 B.R. 363 (In re Myers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Myers, 546 B.R. 363, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 610, 2016 WL 772408 (Miss. 2016).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Edward Ellington, Judge

FORWARD

The matter before the Court involves two different cases which were filed by the same debtor. The first case was filed in 2000, and is still open. The second case was filed fourteen (14) years later in 2014.

On August 17, 2000, case number 00-53489EE was filed by Rick Myers and Tina Myers dba P & L Properties dba Express Personnel (2000 Case). Kimberly R. Lentz is the Chapter 7 Trustee for the 2000 Case.

On June 19, 2014, case number 14-50992EE was filed by Richard A. Myers (2014 Case). Rick Myers and Richard A Myers are the same person. J. Stephen Smith is the Chapter 7 Trustee for the 2014 Case.

INTRODUCTION

THIS MATTER came before the Court on the (1) Amended Joint Motion to Approve Settlement and Compromise (Dkt.# 347)1 filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee for Case Number 00-53489EE, Kimberly R. Lentz, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Fox Everett Underwriters, Ltd. and Steve Lee; (2) Objection to Amended Joint Motion to Approve Settlement and Compromise (Dkt.# 381) filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee for Case Number 14-50992EE, J. Stephen Smith; (3) Trustee’s Objection to Claims No. 26 & 27 (Dkt.# 389) filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee for Case Number 00-53489EE, Kimberly R. Lentz; and (4) Response to Trustee’s Objection to Proofs of Claim Nos. 26 and 27 (Dkt.# 391) filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee for Case Number 14-50992EE, J. Stephen Smith.

After the conclusion of the trial on the above pleadings, the Court instructed the parties to submit briefs. After considering the testimony, the parties’ oral arguments, the exhibits at the trial, and the post-trial briefs, the Court finds that for the reasons detailed below, the Amended Joint Motion to Approve Settlement and Compromise (Dkt.# 347) filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee for Case Number 00-53489EE, Kimberly R. Lentz, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Fox Everett Underwriters, Ltd., and Steve Lee is well-taken and should be granted and that the Trustee’s Objection to Claims No. 26 & 27 (Dkt.# 389) filed by the Chapter 7 Trastee for Case Number 00-53489EE, Kimberly R. Lentz, is well-taken and should be sustained.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The following recitation of facts is from In re Myers, 425 B.R. 296 (Bankr.S.D.Miss.2010), rendered entered on March 9, 2010, in the Myers’ 2000 Cáse. In the Opinion, the Court denied two separate motions to settle. While all of the facts are not pertinent to the pleadings currently before the Court, they detail what has occurred over the long history of the bankruptcy case filed in 2000. The facts quoted below begin with the commencement of [367]*367the bankruptcy ease and end at the trial on the then pending settlement offers. At the conclusion of the quoted facts, the Court will supply additional findings of facts leading up to the matter currently pending before the Court.

The matter currently before the Court is one in a long line of matters litigated between Rick and Tina Myers (Debtors), Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Fox-Everett Underwriters, LTD., Steve Lee and the Chapter 7 Trustee, Kimberly R. Lentz (Trustee). In order to put the issues before the Court in context, it is necessary to give a rather detailed background of what has occurred between the parties up to this time.
On August 17, 2000, the Debtors filed a petition under Chapter 18 of the United States Bankruptcy Code styled Rick and Tina Myers dba P & L Properties dba Express Personnel in the Gulfport Divisional Office of the Southern District of Mississippi. The case was assigned to the Honorable Edward R. Gaines. P & L Properties (P & L) was a limited liability corporation wholly owned by Rick Myers. P & L provided temporary employees to businesses and operated through a franchise with Express Services, Inc. On March 2, 2001, the Debtors converted their case to one under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
On October 25, 2001, an Order Approving Trustee’s Report of No Distribution was entered in which the Chapter 7 Trustee, C. Thomas Anderson, certified that there were no assets to administer for the benefit of the creditors of the estate.2 The Debtors received their Discharge of Debtor also on October 25, 2001, and their case was closed on October 29, 2001.
On October 21, 2002, the Debtor, Rick Myers, and Infinity Services of Mississippi, LLC (collectively, Myers) filed a complaint against Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Fox-Everett Underwriters, Ltd., and Steve Lee (collectively, Liberty Mutual) in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi (State Court Litigation). Infinity Services of Mississippi, LLC (Infinity) was a limited liability company established by Rick Myers on or around March 30, 2001. Infinity was a labor subcontracting company which supplied skilled labor to industrial and marine contractors both inside and outside of Mississippi. In the lawsuit, Myers basically contends that Liberty Mutual failed to procure and to provide Infinity with workers’ compensation insurance coverage and that Myers relied upon false representations made by Steve Lee and Fox-Everett during the solicitation and sale of the policy for workers’ compensation insurance. As a result of the actions of Liberty Mutual, Myers alleges that Infinity eventually went out of business. Myers asserts various causes of action, including breach of contract, gross negligence, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, and emotional distress along with several other counts.
On May 25, 2004, Liberty Mutual removed the State Court Litigation to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi3 alleging that the causes of action were property of the Myers’ bankruptcy estate [368]*368(District Court Action). In support of its contention that the District Court Action is property of the Debtors’ bankruptcy estate, Liberty Mutual asserts that in late 2000, Myers requested that Steve Lee, an agent for Fox-Everett, assist him in procuring a workers’ compensation policy to cover workers subject to the U.S. Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.4 Mr. Lee obtained coverage for Myers through the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Plan. The assigned risk plan was administered by Compensation Insurance Services (CIS). Once CIS approved P & L’s application, it assigned Liberty Mutual Insurance Company as the plan’s servicing carrier for the policy.
According to Liberty Mutual, as the servicing carrier, Liberty Mutual “issued and administered the policy and any claims arising thereunder in accordance with the guidelines of the plan and the National Council on Compensation Insurance (“NCCI”)____ Liberty subsequently issued its policy ... to P & L for the policy period of 12/16/00-12/16/01____Mississippi was the only state listed in the USL & H endorsement.” 5

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Freshman v. Atkins
269 U.S. 121 (Supreme Court, 1925)
Jackson Brewing Company v. Herpel
624 F.2d 599 (Fifth Circuit, 1980)
Kane v. National Union Fire Insurance
535 F.3d 380 (Fifth Circuit, 2008)
In Re Turner
207 B.R. 373 (Second Circuit, 1997)
In Re Idearc Inc.
423 B.R. 138 (N.D. Texas, 2009)
In Re Myers
425 B.R. 296 (S.D. Mississippi, 2010)
In Re Mirant Corp.
334 B.R. 800 (N.D. Texas, 2005)
In re McMahan
481 B.R. 901 (S.D. Texas, 2012)
Lentz v. Myers (In re Myers)
486 B.R. 365 (S.D. Mississippi, 2013)
In re Wright
545 B.R. 541 (S.D. Texas, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
546 B.R. 363, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 610, 2016 WL 772408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-myers-mssb-2016.