Rodriguez Estrada v. Aladdin Western Export Corp.

61 B.R. 675, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12514
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedDecember 26, 1985
DocketCiv. No. 83-1119 (JP)
StatusPublished

This text of 61 B.R. 675 (Rodriguez Estrada v. Aladdin Western Export Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodriguez Estrada v. Aladdin Western Export Corp., 61 B.R. 675, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12514 (prd 1985).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PIERAS, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is defendant’s Motion to Stay Proceedings or Dismiss without prejudice, based on the pendency of parallel proceedings before the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, involving the same parties and identical pleadings. The parties have stipulated the pertinent facts in the Pre-trial Conference report. Furthermore, the parties have submitted into the record copies of uncontro-verted documentary evidence.

For adequate comprehension of the issues raised herein, it is necessary to delve into the procedural history of the litigation, which actually commenced prior to the date when trustee in bankruptcy, Hector M. Rodriguez Estrada, hereinafter trustee, acting on behalf of plaintiff-debtor, West Indies Merchandise Company, Inc., hereinafter referred as “Wimco”, a corporation chartered and doing business in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, filed this complaint invoking the diversity jurisdiction of this Court.

Originally included as defendants in the complaint were four corporations. Subsequently, plaintiff moved to withdraw without prejudice its claim against three of said defendant corporations, electing to proceed solely against herein named defendant Aladdin Western Export Corporation, hereinafter Aladdin.

Defendant Alladin, a corporation with principal offices and place of business in Nashville, Tennessee, was at all times pertinent hereto, engaged in the sale of Aladdin products to clients located outside the continental United States. Plaintiff alleges in the complaint that Wimco was appointed exclusive distributor in Puerto Rico for all of Aladdin’s products sold locally, and that on or about May 5, 1982, and without just cause therefor, Aladdin unilaterally notified Wimco of the termination of said representation. The complaint sets forth a cause of action based on Puerto Rico Law 75, 10 L.P.R.A. § 278 (1964), which explicitly creates a cause of action in damages against principals who, without just cause, breach, impair or terminate distribution agreements in Puerto Rico.

On July 2, 1982, Wimco filed a Petition under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Code, before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Subsequently, said proceedings were converted to total liquidation, as provided by Chapter VII of the Bankruptcy Code.

Prior to filing for bankruptcy, on May 21, 1982 Wimco had filed a complaint against Aladdin and others, before the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, containing substantially the same allegations as those contained in the complaint filed herein. On October 6, 1982 Wimco filed before the Superior Court a Notice of Removal, simultaneously filing before the Bankruptcy Court an Application for Removal for disposition thereof as an adversary proceeding. The Bankruptcy Court [677]*677ordered on December 13, 1982 the remand to the State Court, pursuant to the Marathon decision, 102 S.Ct. 2858. The State Court thereafter reassumed jurisdiction over the case.

Plaintiff filed motions in Bankruptcy Court seeking relief from the aforementioned remand to the State Court, and concurrently or alternatively requesting that the adversary proceeding be certified to the Federal District Court for the District of Puerto Rico instead of being remanded to the court of origin. The Bankruptcy Court denied certification to this Court on the basis that an order of remand is final and unreviewable. Plaintiff proceeded to file the instant proceedings by filing a new complaint which essentially realleges each and every one of the facts already alleged in the proceedings currently pending in the State Court. Concurrently, plaintiff requested and was granted a stay of proceedings in the State Court based on the pend-ency of the bankruptcy proceedings.

The Bankruptcy Court based its remand order on La Providencia Development Corp, et al., petitioners, 406 F.2d 251 (1st Cir.1969), which held as follows:

“Plaintiff in the above-captioned adversary proceeding has filed a motion for relief from judgment and a subsequent motion requesting an order for referral to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. The substance of plaintiff's request is that, in reconsidering our order entered in this case on December 13, 1982, we vacate the remand of the instant adversary proceeding to the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part.
Plaintiff's request must be denied since we lack the power to vacate our own order of remand after the state court reassumed jurisdiction over this action. In Re La Providencia Development Corp., 406 F.2d 251 (1st Cir.1969).
In Thermtron Products, Inc. v. Hermansdofer, 423 U.S. 336, 96 S.Ct. 584, 46 L.Ed.2d 542 (1974) the Supreme Court stated, as an exception to the rule applied in La Providencia, that the ban on re-viewability (and reconsideration) contained in 28 U.S.C. 1447(d) is not applicable where the trial judge articulated a reason for remanding the case that is not found in Section 1447(c). However, in this case we are not confronted with the exceptional situation faced in Therm-tron. In our order of December 13, 1982, we specified that the case was being remanded for a reason listed in Section 1447(c): lack of jurisdiction. Thus, the Thermtron rule is not applicable and we are without liberty to vacate our order of remand. Cf. In re Shell Oil Company, 631 F.2d 1156 (5th Cir.1980) (Since trial court remanded for a reason not listed in section 1447(c), it had power to review its order of remand).
Accordingly, plaintiff’s motion for relief of judgment and for referral to the District Court must be and are hereby DENIED.”

Because the Bankruptcy Court was without jurisdiction to review the remand order, this Court is similarly barred under the applicable statute to disregard the remand and entertain this action. To do likewise would be tantamount to a collateral review and revocation of a final remand order of the Bankruptcy Court, contrary to the statute.

A Federal Court is without jurisdiction to vacate a remand order after a State court has reassumed jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d) provides in essence that:

“an order remanding a case to the State Court from which it was removed is not reviewable on appeal or otherwise...” P.L. 95-598, Title II, Sec. 241(a), added

section 1478 to Title 28 of the United States Code, a provision for removal of cases from other courts to Bankruptcy courts, which section incorporates the language of § 1447(d) to provide in subsection (b) that:

“the court to which such claim or cause of action is removed may remand such claim or cause of action on any equitable ground. An order under this subsection remanding a claim or cause of action, or a decision not so remanding, is not reviewable by appeal or otherwise.”

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61 B.R. 675, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-estrada-v-aladdin-western-export-corp-prd-1985.