Jones v. Keene Corp.

933 F.2d 209, 1991 WL 80984
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMay 21, 1991
DocketNo. 90-5364
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 933 F.2d 209 (Jones v. Keene Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Keene Corp., 933 F.2d 209, 1991 WL 80984 (3d Cir. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

HUTCHINSON, Circuit Judge.

Raymond Jones (Raymond) and his wife Agnes Jones (collectively “the Joneses”) appeal from the district court’s denial of post-judgment interest on the portion of their asbestos-disease award due them from the Manville Corporation Asbestos Disease Fund (the Fund). The Joneses had won a $20,000.00 verdict. The Fund was responsible for $5000.00. We will affirm the district court’s decision.

I.

The Joneses filed suit against numerous defendants on January 18, 1989, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for damages resulting from an asbestos-related disease that Raymond suffers from. The Fund was brought into the litigation as a third-party defendant on March 23, 1989. At the start of trial, the only defendants that had not settled with or been voluntarily dismissed from the Joneses’ action were the Fund and Celotex Corporation (Celotex). After a jury trial, a verdict in favor of the Joneses in the amount of $20,000.00 was given on special interrogatories against the Fund, Celotex and two defendants who had previously settled with the Joneses, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation and Combustion Engineering, Incorporated. Celotex also settled with the Joneses shortly after trial. The Fund was responsible for $5000.00 of the judgment which was filed on February 13, 1990.

On February 28,1990, recognizing that it was liable for post-judgment interest under Pennsylvania law, the Fund filed a Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59(e) and 60(b)(6). Over the Joneses’ opposition, the Fund claimed that the Second Amended and Restated Plan of Reorganization of Manville (the Plan) precluded an award of post-judgment interest. The district court granted the Fund’s motion and ordered that the “Fund shall not be liable for post-judgment interest on its $5,000.00 share of the judgment.” Appendix (App.) at 88.

The Joneses moved for reconsideration of the Order Amending Judgment. The district court denied the motion and the Joneses then filed this timely appeal.

II.

On August 26, 1982, Johns-Manville Corporation and fourteen related entities (collectively “Manville”) filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C.A. §§ 1101-1174 [211]*211(West 1979 & Supp.1990), in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. On December 22, 1986, the bankruptcy court confirmed the Plan. In re Joint Eastern and Southern Districts Asbestos Litigation, 120 B.R. 648, 652 (E.D.N.Y and S.D.N.Y.1990) [hereinafter Asbestos Litigation ]. On January 23, 1987, while the order confirming the Plan was on appeal, Raymond was diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease. The Confirmation Date, the date on which the order confirming the Plan became final, was October 28, 1988.

The assumptions on which the Fund was created have proven wrong. It has failed its purpose and its recent performance is particularly alarming.

It was assumed that the [Fund] would have adequate funds to satisfy all asbestos health claims as they became liquidated if the process occurred over a period of time coinciding with the Plan’s long-term funding provisions. In fact, the number of claims, the rate at which they were filed and their average liquidated value far exceeded the projected amounts. For example, as of March 30, 1990, the [Fund] had received more than 150,000 claims, a fifty percent increase over the highest number estimated when the Plan was approved. The [Fund] has settled 22,386 of those claims at an average liquidated value of $42,000 — far above the predicted average — leaving roughly 130,000 claims pending. The cost of satisfying those claims is anticipated to exceed by fifty percent the value Manville had extrapolated from its earlier pre-petition experience. By the Spring of 1990, the [Fund] was effectively out of money to pay its current and short term obligations.

Asbestos Litigation, 120 B.R. at 652. Besides the Fund, which was established to satisfy asbestos-related personal injury claims against Manville, a second trust was established to “resolve asbestos-related property damages claims against [Manville].” In re Johns Manville Corp., 920 F.2d 121, 123 (2d Cir.1990). The facility that was established to process property damage claims will be closed on October 31, 1992, id. at 122-23, because it needs an influx of funds from Manville and that influx will not be available until the Fund no longer needs Manville funds to pay its claims, id. at 123-24. It is believed that the Fund may require additional Manville funds until the year 2024. Id. at 124. Because of Manville’s overwhelming fiscal difficulties, the Joneses have no prospect of immediate payment of the Fund’s share of their judgment.

III.

The jurisdiction of the district court was based on the diverse citizenship of the parties and the Joneses’ allegation of the required jurisdictional amount. See 28 U.S. C.A. § 1332(a)(1) (West Supp.1990). The Joneses are citizens of Pennsylvania. None of the defendants are citizens of that state. The Joneses alleged that the amount in controversy was in excess of $150,000.00.1 We have jurisdiction to review the district court decision because the disposition of the motion for reconsideration was a final order. See 28 U.S.C.A. § 1291 (West Supp.1990); see also Richerson v. Jones, 551 F.2d 918, 922 (3d Cir. 1977) (order that ends the litigation is a final order).

The issue the Joneses raise concerning the award of post-judgment interest is a legal one. Our scope of review is plenary. See Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp., 865 F.2d 566, 570 (3d Cir.1989), rev’d in part on other grounds, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 1570, 108 L.Ed.2d 842 (1990).

IV.

The Joneses’ basic contention is that any restriction on the payment of interest in the Plan does not apply to their claim.2 [212]*212They begin by noting that Pennsylvania law provides for post-verdict interest. See 42 Pa.Con.Stat.Ann. § 8101 (Purdon 1982). They first identify their cause of action as a “future claim.” They imply the term “future claim” into the Plan’s text and, apparently defining “future” in its common sense, argue that Section 3.4 of the Plan, which bars the payment of post-judgment interest, is not applicable to them because their claim is a “future claim” and Section 3.4 does not cover “future claims.” They go on to assert that the relevant date for determining whether a claim is a future one is August 26, 1982, the date of the Chapter 11 filing. So defined, their claim, haec verba, becomes a future claim as Raymond was not diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease until early 1987. In support of this proposition they cite Kane v. Johns-Manville Corp., 843 F.2d 636, 639 (2d Cir.1988), In re Johns-Manville Corp., 52 B.R. 940, 941 (S.D.N.Y.1985), In re Johns-Manville Corp., 68 B.R. 618, 624 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.1986), aff'd in part, 78 B.R. 407 (S.D.N.Y.1987), aff'd sub nom. Kane v. Johns-Manville Corp.,

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Jones v. Keene Corporation
933 F.2d 209 (Third Circuit, 1991)

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933 F.2d 209, 1991 WL 80984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-keene-corp-ca3-1991.