In re Phones for All, Inc.

249 B.R. 426, 44 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 427, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 653, 2000 WL 776638
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMay 24, 2000
DocketNos. 99-38080-SAF-11, 99-38082-SAF-11, 99-38084-SAF-11
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 249 B.R. 426 (In re Phones for All, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Phones for All, Inc., 249 B.R. 426, 44 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 427, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 653, 2000 WL 776638 (Tex. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

STEVEN A FELSENTHAL, Bankruptcy Judge.

Isaac Lasky moves the court for the allowance of an administrative expense under 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(1) to be paid by the bankruptcy estate of Phones for All, Inc., the Chapter 11 debtor in possession. Phones for Al and its Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors oppose the motion. The court conducted an evidentiary hearing on the motion on April 27, 2000.

The determination of an administrative expense to be paid by a bankruptcy estate constitutes a core matter over which this court has jurisdiction to enter a final judgment. 28 U.S.C. §§ 157(b)(2)(A) and 1334. This memorandum opinion contains the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Bankruptcy Rules 7052 and 9014.

In this motion, Lasky requests payment of employment severance benefits as an administrative expense. Phones for Al and Lasky entered into an employment contract on April 1, 1999. Under the agreement, Lasky agreed to assume the position of Phones for Al’s executive vice president for a base annual salary of $165,-000 to be paid in equal monthly installments. Phones for Al also agreed to pay Lasky a semi-annual bonus and to reimburse his out of pocket expenses. Phones for Al and Lasky further agreed that La-sky would receive severance pay in the [428]*428event of the termination of his employment without cause, to be paid commencing on the date of his termination and continuing until April 1, 2002. The employment agreement, in section VII D(3), specifically provides:

Good Reason or Early Termination by the Company. In the event of Early Termination or Termination for Good Reasons, Employee shall be entitled to Severance Pay commencing on the date of termination and concluding for the remainder of the Term of the Employment (see Section I, April 1, 2002), or twelve (12) months, whichever is greater (the “Severance Period”) ... the Company shall pay Employee Severance Pay for the Severance Period at the annual rate of Employee’s Base Salary plus the prior semi-annual period’s bonus, annualized, at the time of termination.

Sahagen Consulting Group, L.L.C., an entity affiliated with the debtor’s equity holder, guaranteed the employment agreement.

When Lasky reported for work, Phones for All assigned him the positions of president and chief executive officer. Lasky did not request additional or different compensation because of that assignment. Rather, he worked under and Phones for All paid him pursuant to their employment agreement.

Phones for All filed its petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on November 18, 1999. Effective December 8, 1999, Phones for All terminated Lasky’s employment. The parties agree that Lasky satisfactorily performed his employment obligations and that Phones for All terminated his employment without cause. Phones for All paid Lasky his base salary, both before and after the filing of the bankruptcy petition.

Lasky contends that his employment termination triggered section VII D(3) of the employment contract, entitling him to severance pay of $432,601.65. Because Phones for All terminated his employment post-petition, Lasky claims the severance benefit must be paid as an administrative expense under § 503(b)(1). Phones for All and the creditors’ committee contend, however, that the debtor paid Lasky his post-petition wages and that his severance benefits amount to a pre-petition claim against the bankruptcy estate.

Section 503(b)(1) provides that administrative expenses include “the actual, necessary costs and expenses of preserving the estate, including wages, salaries, or commissions for services rendered after the commencement of the case.... ” Lasky contends that because of his post-petition termination, his severance benefits constitute wages or salary to be paid as an administrative expense. The court must determine whether “wages” or “salaries” under § 503(b)(1) include severance benefits. To answer that issue, the court must read the Bankruptcy Code in its entirety giving meaning to each of its provisions. United Savings Ass’n of Texas v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Associates, Ltd., 484 U.S. 365, 370-72, 108 S.Ct. 626, 98 L.Ed.2d 740 (1988). The court must recognize that where Congress has specifically included a provision in one section of the Code but not another, a court cannot read that provision into the other section. See Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 432, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987).

Under the priorities of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 507, the bankruptcy estate pays administrative expenses under § 503(b) before the payment of pre-petition claims against the estate. 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(1). Section 507 then assigns priorities to unsecured pre-petition claims. Section 507(a)(3)(A) provides third priority for up to $4,300 for “wages, salaries, or commissions, including vacation, severance, and sick leave pay earned by an individual” within 90 days before the filing of the bankruptcy petition. The Code expressly includes severance pay within wages, salaries and commissions for priori[429]*429ty unsecured wage claims but does not expressly include severance pay within wages, salaries and commissions for administrative expenses. The court may not read the Code to render the express language of § 507(a)(3)(A) superfluous or unnecessary. Woodfork v. Marine Cooks & Stewards Union, 642 F.2d 966, 970-71 (5th Cir.1981). Rather, the court must read the Code to give meaning to each provision. To do so, the court infers that Congress intended to include severance pay within wages for unsecured priority wage claims but not for administrative expense wage claims. The court therefore reads the Code to not include severance pay within wages, salaries and commissions entitled to an administrative expense.

This reading fulfills the Code’s scheme. The Code classifies claims derived from pre-petition unsecured contracts generally at the same priority, to share pro rata in the bankruptcy estate. Within that class of claims, however, Congress provides priorities based on matters of public policy determined in the legislative process. But, to deliver the payments to those creditors as so classified and prioritized, Congress has determined that the bankruptcy estate must first pay its expenses of administration. Congress has narrowly defined those expenses, as here relevant, by including wages earned post-petition but without pre-petition contractual severance benefits.

Lasky has a claim against the bankruptcy estate under the Code’s scheme based on pre-petition rights under the employment agreement.

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249 B.R. 426, 44 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 427, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 653, 2000 WL 776638, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-phones-for-all-inc-txnb-2000.