Sandra Slater v. United States Steel Corporation

820 F.3d 1193, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 3225, 99 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,498, 128 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1601, 2016 WL 723012
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided February 24, 2016·No. 12-15548·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

The equitable doctrine of judicial estop-pel, also known as the doctrine of preclusion of inconsistent positions, “precludes a party from asserting a ... position that contradicts or is inconsistent with a prior position taken by the same party.” 18 James Wm. Moore et al., Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 131.13[6][a] (3d ed.2015). The doctrine differs from the doctrines of issue and claim preclusion in that the policy animating it “is not [primarily] concerned with preserving the finality of judgments” but is concerned, instead, with “the orderly administration of justice and regard for the dignity of court proceedings.” Id. ¶ 131.13[6][c]. The doctrine may be invoked by a third party: that is, someone who was not a party in the adversary’s prior proceeding and therefore would suffer no prejudice were the adversary permitted to go forward with the inconsistent position. Id. ¶ 134.33E1].1

This is so in our circuit. We do not require that the party invoking the doctrine have been a party in the prior proceeding. “The doctrine of judicial estoppel protects the integrity of the judicial system, not the litigants; therefore, ... [w]hile privity and/or detrimental reliance are often present in judicial estoppel cases, they are not required.” Burnes v. Pemco Aeroplex, Inc., 291 F.3d 1282, 1286 (11th Cir.2002) (alteration in original) (quotation marks omitted) (quoting Ryan Operations G.P. v. Santiam-Midwest Lumber Co., 81 F.3d 355, 360 (3d Cir.1996)).

I.

A.

The case at hand is an employment-discrimination action brought by Sandra Slater against United States Steel Corporation (“U.S. Steel”), her former employer.2 Slater raises two issues on ap[1196]*1196peal: (1) whether the District Court correctly granted summary judgment to U.S. Steel on her claim for “racial ... discrimination,” and (2) whether the District Court correctly dismissed other employment-discrimination claims based on judicial estop-pel that had proceeded past summary judgment and were set for trial. We af- ■ firm the District Court on both issues.3

Twenty-one months after bringing this lawsuit, Slater, represented by separate counsel, filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition.4 In filling out the Statement of Financial Affairs part of her petition, Slater, under penalty of perjury, answered “none” to the Personal Property Schedule B question asking whether she had any “contingent and unliquidated claims” and “none” to the Statement of Financial Affairs question asking whether she was, or had been within one year immediately preceding the filing of her petition, “a party” to any “suits and administrative proceedings.”

When U.S. Steel learned of the bankruptcy case — that Slater’s Chapter 7 petition had not disclosed the employment-discrimination claims she was pursuing against it in the District Court and that the Chapter 7 Trustee was treating the bankruptcy as a “no asset” case5 and had filed a Report of No Distribution with the Bankruptcy Court — it moved the District Court alternatively to dismiss the case or [1197]*1197for summary judgment. U.S. Steel argued that the case should be dismissed because Slater lacked standing to prosecute it6 or that summary judgment should be granted under the doctrine of judicial estoppel pursuant to Burnes v. Pemco Aeroplex, Inc., 291 F.3d 1282 (11th Cir.2002), and its progeny.7 Bumes was an employment-discrimination case like Slater’s that was dismissed because the plaintiff, who was in bankruptcy, failed to disclose the pendency of federal-district-court litigation to the Bankruptcy Court.

On receiving U.S. Steel’s alternative motions, Slater immediately amended her bankruptcy petition to identify her lawsuit against U.S. Steel and the claims being litigated.8 Slater also filed with the District Court a memorandum in opposition to U.S. Steel’s motions and an affidavit stating that she did not intentionally withhold mention of her lawsuit in her bankruptcy petition and that when she realized what she had done, she had her bankruptcy attorney amend her answers to the Statement of Financial Affairs questions to reveal the current litigation.

In her memorandum, Slater argued that invoking the doctrine, of judicial estoppel would be inappropriate for three reasons, two based on the United States Supreme Court’s decision in New Hampshire v. Maine, 532 U.S. 742, 121 S.Ct. 1808, 149 L.Ed.2d 968 (2001), the third based on the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Folio v. City of Clarksburg, 134 F.3d 1211 (4th Cir.1998). First, Slater argued that judicial estoppel would be inappropriate under New Hampshire because she had not “ ‘succeeded in persuading [the bankruptcy] court to accept [her] position’ ” that she had no claims pending against U.S. Steel, because she had not yet received a discharge of her debts by the Bankruptcy Court, and therefore had created “ ‘no risk of inconsistent court determinations’” that could pose a “threat to judicial integrity.” Second, Slater contended that judicial estoppel should not be invoked because allowing her employment-discrimination case to go forward would not give her an “ ‘unfair advantage or impose an unfair detriment on’” U.S. Steel. And third, to be es-topped, Slater argued that she “must have acted intentionally, not inadvertently” in failing to disclose the litigation against U.S. Steel in her Chapter 7 petition and, as indicated in her affidavit, her failure to disclose her claims and the litigation was inadvertent.

While U.S. Steel’s alternative motions were pending, the following occurred. First, the Bankruptcy Court approved the application of the trustee of Slater’s bankruptcy estate to employ the lawyers representing Slater in her case against U.S. Steel as special counsel for the bankruptcy [1198]*1198estate and, in that capacity, continue to pursue the claims being litigated. Second, a short time later, Slater, through counsel, petitioned the court to convert her Chapter 7 case to a Chapter 13 case. The court granted her motion, and Slater promptly filed a Chapter 13 petition and an Amended Personal Property Schedule B. Three months later, the Bankruptcy Court affirmed the plan Slater proposed for the payment of her debts over a period of forty-two months.

The District Court ruled on U.S. Steel’s alternative motions while Slater’s plan was being carried out. The court declared moot U.S. Steel’s motion to dismiss the case on the ground that Slater lacked standing. A Chapter 13 debtor has standing to prosecute a claim of the bankruptcy estate as the debtor in possession,9 and the court found that Slater was appearing in that capacity.

B.

The District Court concluded that the doctrine of judicial estoppel as formulated in Burnes v. Pemco Aeroplex, Inc.,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Sandra Slater v. United States Steel Corporation, 820 F.3d 1193, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 3225, 99 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,498, 128 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1601, 2016 WL 723012 (11th Cir. 2016).

820 F.3d 1193 (Sandra Slater v. United States Steel Corporation) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Jenny Smith v. Haynes & Haynes P.C.
940 F.3d 635 (Eleventh Circuit, 2019)
Sandra Slater v. United States Steel Corporation
891 F.3d 1329 (Eleventh Circuit, 2018)
Jacqueline Lewis v. City of Union City, Georgia
877 F.3d 1000 (Eleventh Circuit, 2017)
Sandra Slater v. United Steel Corporation
871 F.3d 1174 (Eleventh Circuit, 2017)
D’antignac v. Deere & Company
804 S.E.2d 688 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2017)
United States v. Graham
643 F.3d 885 (Eleventh Circuit, 2011)
William M. Taylor v. Milton E. Nix, Jr.
240 F. App'x 830 (Eleventh Circuit, 2007)
City of Lawrenceville v. Ricoh Electronics, Inc.
174 F. App'x 491 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)