Kittay v. Flutie New York Corp. (In Re Flutie New York Corp.)

310 B.R. 31, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 722, 2004 WL 1173088
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 18, 2004
Docket19-22049
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 310 B.R. 31 (Kittay v. Flutie New York Corp. (In Re Flutie New York Corp.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kittay v. Flutie New York Corp. (In Re Flutie New York Corp.), 310 B.R. 31, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 722, 2004 WL 1173088 (N.Y. 2004).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF*FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW PURSUANT TO RULE 7052 OF THE RULES OF BANKRUPTCY PROCEDURE

BURTON R. LIFLAND, Bankruptcy Judge.

This is an action brought by plaintiff David R. Kittay, Esq., as the duly appointed chapter 7 trustee (the “Trustee”), pursuant to section 701 of title 11, United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”), for the estate of Flutie New York Corp. d/b/a Company Management (hereinafter “Flu-tie N.Y.” or the “Debtor”) against Flutie New York Corp., 1 “Abert Flutie”, Michael Flutie (“Michael” or “Michael Flutie”), Flutie Media Corp. (“Flutie Media”), Flu-tie Interactive, Inc. (“Flutie Interactive”), Flutie Entertainment Corp. (“Flutie Entertainment”), Flutie Bros. LLC (“Flutie Bros”) and Flutie Entertainment USA, Inc. (“Entertainment USA” and, together with Flutie N.Y., Abert Flutie, Michael Flutie, Flutie Media, Flutie Interactive, and Flutie Entertainment, the “Defendants”).

The Trustee, in his complaint (the “Complaint”), seeks to avoid certain transfers from the Debtor as fraudulent, redress alleged breaches of fiduciary duties by Abert Flutie and Michael Flutie, recover damages for certain alleged wrongful actions of the Debtor and Michael Flutie and hold Michael Flutie and Abert Flutie personally liable for losses incurred by the Debtor.

More specifically, the Complaint asserts fourteen causes of action:

Counts I through V charge all Defendants with fraudulent transfers under the Bankruptcy Code and New York Debtor and Creditor Law; Count VI charges Abert Flutie with breaching his fiduciary duty to the Debtor; Count VII charges Michael Flutie with breaching his fiduciary duty to the Debtor; Count VIII seeks a claim for contribution against Michael Flutie and Abert Flu-tie; Count IX charges Michael Flutie with unjust enrichment; Count X charges Michael Flutie with tortious interference with contract; Count XI seeks a declaratory judgment that Michael Flutie and Abert Flutie are the *38 alter egos of the Debtor and are therefore, liable for all of the Debtor’s debts; Count XII seeks a declaratory judgment that Flutie Media is the alter ego of the Debtor and Michael Flutie and therefore, is liable for all of the Debtor’s debts; Count XIII seeks an accounting, from the Defendants, of all contracts and other assets transferred out of the Debtor’s estate since January 1, 1998; and Count XIV seeks injunctive relief against Michael Flutie, Albert Flutie, Flutie Media, Flutie Interactive, Flutie Entertainment, Flutie Bros and Entertainment USA.

Trial was conducted before the Court on October 27 and 28, 2003, and closing arguments were heard on November 25, 2003. Each party was provided with the opportunity to hear from any proffered witnesses, and approximately 113 exhibits were entered into evidence. Having considered all of the evidence, testimonial and documentary, as well as the arguments of the parties, and their Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, and keeping in mind that a court should not blindly accept findings of fact and conclusions of law proffered by the parties, St. Clare’s Hospital and Health Center v. Insurance Company of North America (In re St. Clare’s Hospital and Health Center), 934 F.2d 15 (2d Cir.1991)(citing U.S. v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., 376 U.S. 651, 656, 84 S.Ct. 1044, 12 L.Ed.2d 12 (1964)), and having conducted an independent analysis of the law and the facts, this Court makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Background

1.On August 21, 2002 (the “Petition Date”), Flutie N.Y. New York Corp., doing business as Company Management, filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

2. On or about August 21, 2002, the United States Trustee appointed David R. Kittay, Esq. as the chapter 7 trustee pursuant to section 701 of the Bankruptcy Code.

3. The Trustee commenced this adversary proceeding on December 20, 2002. The Trustee, through a number of claims, effectively seeks to hold the Defendants liable for the debts of the estate, and the return of monies transferred to the Defendants.

4. The bar date for filing claims in this case was January 10, 2003. Twenty-five claims have been filed against this estate in the amount of $2,746,039, including $60,906 in unsecured claims, $86,873 in priority claims and $2,602,910 in unspecified claims. Such amounts do not include administrative claims — principally professional fees and expenses — that have accrued since the inception of this ease.

The Parties

5. Plaintiff David Kittay is the Trustee of the chapter 7 estate of the Debtor.

6. The Debtor is a corporation organized under the laws of New York. Prior to the Petition Date, the Debtor maintained its principal place of business at 270 Lafayette Street, New York, New York from approximately 1996 to 2003 when Victoria Suns d/b/a Company Models (“Victoria Suns”) and the remaining Flutie entities moved into office space located at 17 Little West 12th Street, New York, New York.

7. The Debtor was a model management company principally engaged in the representation of fashion models, serving as their personal manager and promoter for all purposes, including for representation of its clients in the “entertainment business.” [Trustee Trial Ex. 52], Among *39 the models Debtor represented were Jaime King (a/k/a James), Kristine Szabo, Beri Smither, Rhea Durham, and Alexis Bledel. The Debtor received compensation in two ways: first, it received a standard 20% production fee; and second, it received an additional 20% commission from the models. [Trial Trans, at 70 (Day 1) ].

8. The Debtor was known in the industry as Company Management.

9. Defendant Michael Flutie was the principal of the Debtor.

10. The Trustee alleges that Michael Flutie is the disclosed or undisclosed principal behind each of the Flutie entity defendants, and has used these entities principally to promote his personal interests, including extensive payment of his personal expenses and promotion of his family interests at the expense of the Debtor and its creditors. The Defendants, however, assert that Michael Flutie’s only transgression was to keep sloppy books, and that a succession of businesses that followed abandonment of the Debtor did not constitute successors-in-interest.

11. Defendant Albert Flutie is the father of Michael Flutie. Albert Flutie was nominally the 100% shareholder and President of the Debtor. Although Albert Flu-tie was the signatory to the chapter 7 bankruptcy petition that was filed in this Court on behalf of the Debtor, as set forth below, he exerted no control over or involvement in the Debtor.

12. Defendants Flutie Media, Flutie Interactive and Flutie Entertainment, despite being served, defaulted on the Complaint herein.

13.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
310 B.R. 31, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 722, 2004 WL 1173088, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kittay-v-flutie-new-york-corp-in-re-flutie-new-york-corp-nysb-2004.