Vaughn v. Quinn (In re Quinn)

180 B.R. 550, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 492
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedApril 17, 1995
DocketBankruptcy No. 93-42402-172; Adv. No. 93-4430-172
StatusPublished

This text of 180 B.R. 550 (Vaughn v. Quinn (In re Quinn)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vaughn v. Quinn (In re Quinn), 180 B.R. 550, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 492 (Mo. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

JAMES J. BARTA, Bankruptcy Judge.

This matter is before the Court on a complaint by Virginia Vaughn (“Plaintiff’) to determine dischargeability of certain debts that arose from a judgment entered against Gerard M. Quinn (“Debtor”) by the St. Charles, Missouri, County Circuit Court. The Plaintiff has requested the debts be declared non-dischargeable as based on allegedly willful and malicious actions of the Debtor, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Section 523(a)(6). Following the denial of a Motion for Summary Judgment by this Court on August 9, 1994, a trial was conducted on April 4, 1995. The following determinations are based on the evidence presented at the trial and on consideration of the record as a whole.

This is a core proceeding pursuant to Section 157(b)(2)(I) of Title 28 of the United States Code. The Court has jurisdiction over the parties and this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sections 151, 157 and 1334, and Rule 29 of the Local Rules of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

On March 24, 1992, the Plaintiff filed a petition in the St. Charles County Circuit Court for Breach of Contract. The Debtor filed an answer on April 27, 1992. On the eve of the trial, the Circuit Court granted a request that Counsel for the Debtor be permitted to withdraw. On November 16, 1992, the Circuit Court conducted the trial of the matter. The Plaintiff appeared and presented evidence and oral argument; the debtor did not appear, although his attorney appeared and was again allowed to withdraw. The Circuit Court entered a judgment in favor of the Plaintiff on November 16, 1992 awarding the Plaintiff $24,000.00 for actual damages for breach of the construction contract and $24,000.00 for punitive damages. In its Order, the Court characterized the Debtor’s actions as “wilful, wanton, and malicious” and further as “intentional, wilful, wanton and in reckless disregard of the safety and well being of the Plaintiff’.

On April 28, 1993, the Debtor filed a Petition for Relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

In October, 1993, during the pendency of the Chapter 7 case, the Debtor filed a Motion in the State Circuit Court to Set Aside Default Judgment. The Circuit Court denied this motion on November 2,1993. The Debt- or has appealed neither the denial of that motion, nor the underlying judgment of the Circuit Court.

In her request for Summary Judgment, the Plaintiff argued that collateral estoppel should operate in this instance to preclude the Bankruptcy Court from conducting further proceedings on matters that had been litigated and ruled upon in the prior proceeding. In denying summary judgment, this Court concluded that the doctrine of collateral estoppel did not apply because the standard of malice under Section 523(a)(6) is not [552]*552the same as the standard involved in the state court proceeding and that the factual record before the Court did not support an independent finding of malice under Section 523(a)(6). In re Quinn, 170 B.R. 1013 (Bankr.E.D.Mo.1994).

Additional facts presented at the trial have supported the determination that the Defendant breached the contract with the Plaintiff: poor workmanship on the roof, low quality of paint, crawl space access door put in backwards, and certain plumbing work which may have resulted in a compression fitting failure that caused water damage in the almost completed addition and in the finished basement of the original structure. After the Debtor removed most of the water, the Plaintiff barred the Debtor from further work on the job although some items remained to be finished. However, based on the evidence presented at this trial, the Court finds that the job was substantially completed at the time of the plumbing incident and that the Plaintiff thereafter used the new kitchen and family room.

Testimony also established that during construction, when interim building inspections revealed code violations, the Debtor complied with the building inspector’s requirements. No mechanic’s liens were filed against the property.. The Debtor used the cash advanced by Plaintiff under their contract for the material and labor expenses of the job. The Debtor attempted to mitigate the water damage caused by the plumbing failure and arranged and paid for the carpet drying. The Plaintiff testified that most of the damage was subsequently repaired by other contractors.

In the Order that denied the Plaintiffs request for summary judgement, this Court described the standards for dischargeability under Federal bankruptcy law, applied those standards to the record before the Court, and held that the record at that time did not support the conclusion that the Debtor’s actions rose to the level of malice required to sustain a determination of nondischargeability under Section 523(a)(6). Upon consideration of the record as a whole, including the testimony at trial and the additional documentation and exhibits, this conclusion remains the same.

Debts for damages arising solely from a breach of contract are not excepted from discharge under Section 523(a)(6). Thus, the portion of the state court judgment based solely on the breach of contract claim is not excepted from discharge in this case. See Quinn, 170 B.R. at 1017. In re Modicue, 926 F.2d 452 (5th Cir.1991). In order to except the punitive damage portion of the judgment from discharge under Section 523(a)(6), the Court must find the Debtor acted both willfully and maliciously.

The Eighth Circuit gave meaning to the terms “willful and malicious” in Section 523(a)(6) in the context of security agreements in its ruling in In re Long, 774 F.2d 875 (8th Cir.1985). The term “willful” in Section 523(a)(6) means intentional. Long, 774 F.2d at 880. Therefore, for “malicious” to have a meaning independent of “willful” it must mean something other than an intentional act that causes injury. Id. The Eighth Circuit has defined malicious conduct under Section 523(a)(6) as being “more culpable than that which is in reckless disregard of creditors’ economic interests and expectations, as distinguished from mere legal rights.” Long, 774 F.2d at 881. Thus, the standard in the Eighth Circuit for a willful and malicious breach of a security agreement is “conduct that is 1) headstrong and knowing (“willful”) and 2) targeted at the creditor (“malicious”) at least in the sense that the conduct is certain or almost certain to cause financial harm.” Id. This standard requires a level of blameworthiness that exceeds recklessness. Quinn, 170 B.R. at 1018.

The Long requirement that the action be “targeted at the creditor” was the standard applied by the Eighth Circuit to hold a damage judgment in a battery action nondis-chargeable. In re Miera, 926 F.2d 741, 744 (8th Cir.1991).

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
180 B.R. 550, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaughn-v-quinn-in-re-quinn-moeb-1995.