Kansas Department of Labor v. Singleton (In re Singleton)

553 B.R. 420
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJuly 7, 2016
DocketCase No. 15-21936; Adversary No. 15-6101
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 553 B.R. 420 (Kansas Department of Labor v. Singleton (In re Singleton)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kansas Department of Labor v. Singleton (In re Singleton), 553 B.R. 420 (Kan. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S AND DEFENDANT’S MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Robert D. Berger, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Plaintiff and Defendant moved for summary judgment on Plaintiffs complaint .seeking a finding that its claim against Defendant for fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits was nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(2) and 1328.1 The parties appear by counsel.2

VENUE AND JURISDICTION

This Court has jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157(a) and 1334(a) and (b) and the Amended Standing Order of Reference of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas that exercised authority conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 157(a) to refer to the District’s bankruptcy judges all matters under the Bankruptcy Code and all proceedings arising under the Code or arising in or related to a case under the Code, effective June 24, 2013.3 Furthermore, this Court may hear and finally adjudicate this matter because it is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I). The parties do not object to venue or jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND

On September 4, 2015, Defendant Sheila Singleton (Sheila) filed a voluntary Chapter 13 petition and Chapter 13 plan.4 On October 2,2015, the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) filed a complaint seeking a finding that its claim against Sheila for fraudulently receiving unemployment benefit overpayments was nondischargeable under §§ 523(a)(2) and. 1328.5 Sheila responded on November 3, 2015, largely admitting KDOL’s allegations.6 Sheila admits she:

knowingly and willfully misrepresented to KDoL that Defendant [Sheila] was not employed, was unemployed, was otherwise entitled to unemployment insurance benefits, or that Defendant earned wages for respective weeks in amounts differing from Defendant’s true and correct factual earnings, for the express purpose of fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits.... 7

Sheila concedes her misrepresentations caused her to improperly receive: (1) [423]*423$3,8618 in unemployment benefits from September 25, 2004, to December 4, 2004, when she should have received $0.00 (the 2004 Overpayment); and (2) $2,776 in unemployment benefits from August 27, 2011, to October 15, 2011, when she should have received $0.00 (the 2011 Overpayment).9 Sheila also concedes that the KDOL would not have paid her but for her application, statements, and misrepresentations regarding her employment status and earnings.10 On February 3, 2005, the KDOL issued a final administrative order finding that Sheila fraudulently obtained or received the 2004 Overpayment.11 On March 31, 2012, the KDOL issued a final administrative order finding that Sheila fraudulently obtained or received the 2011 Overpayment.12 Under K.S.A. § 44-719, the KDOL assessed a penalty of $0.00 on the 2004 and 2011 Overpayments,13

The KDOL alleges the 2004 and. 2011 Overpayments are subject to a monthly 1.5 percent interest rate — 18 percent annually — under K.S.A. § 44-719(d)(2).14 Sheila admits KDOL accurately states the substance of K.S.A. § 44-719(d)(2), “but denies that interest at such a high rate is part of Plaintiff s [KDOL’s] non-discharge-able claim in a Chapter 13 case pursuant to §§ 523(a)(2)(A) and 1328(a)(2).”15 Sheila relies on In re Andrews16 for the proposition that “additions to the principal amount of a benefit overpayment were considered differently than the overpayment itself, and were dischargeable in Chapter 13 since penalties owed to a government unit are non-dischargeable in that chapter.”17 Sheila suggests that “interest at 18%, being so much higher than the interest for other kinds of judgments and higher than the Till rate in this district, is more in the nature of a penalty for the overpayment and less in the nature of compensatory interest for the time value of money.”18 Therefore, Sheila denies the accumulated pre-petition interest of $8,829.19

Sheila raises two affirmative defenses in her answer. First, she asserts the 2004 Overpayment is dischargeable because more than five years have passed from the February 3, 2005, administrative order on the 2004 Overpayment. The 2004 Overpayment was not reduced to a civil judgment and, even if considered a judgment, it has not been renewed pursuant to K.S.A. § 60-2403(a). Second, laches, waiver, and estoppel bar the 2004 Overpayment because the KDOL had the ability to offset its claim against Sheila’s 2011 unemployment benefits.

On January 8, 2016, Sheila filed a motion for summary judgment requesting: (a) a discharge of the 2004 Overpayment principal and interest; (b) a discharge of the 2011 Overpayment interest; and (c) non-discharge of the 2011 Overpayment principal.20 Sheila argues summary judgment is [424]*424appropriate because she largely admitted the facts contained in KDOL’s complaint and requests a finding that: (a) the 2004 Overpayment is time barred under K.S.A. § 60-2403(a); (b) the 2004 Overpayment is barred by the equitable doctrines of waiver, estoppel, and laches; and (c) an 18 percent annual interest accruing on the 2004 and 2011 Overpayments is effectively a government penalty and dischargeable under §§ 523(a)(2)(A) and . 1328(a)(2). Sheila asserts the interest rate is “not to compensate Plaintiff [the KDOL] for the lost time value of its money, but to penalize those who receive benefits they are not entitled to, and to deter others from engaging in such conduct.”21

On January 15, 2016, the KDOL filed a cross motion for summary judgment.22 The KDOL requested: (a) judgment' of nondischargeability on the principal amount of $2,776 on the uncontested 2011 Overpayment; (b) a judgment of nondis-chargeability on the principal amount of $3,861 on the 2004 Overpayment; and (c) a judgment of nondischargeability of $7,390.56 and $1,832.16 in interest, and further accruing, on the 2004 and 2011 Overpayments respectively.23

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Bluebook (online)
553 B.R. 420, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kansas-department-of-labor-v-singleton-in-re-singleton-ksb-2016.