Virgo v. Riviera Beach Associates Ltd.

20 F. App'x 348
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 19, 2001
DocketNo. 99-5175
StatusPublished

This text of 20 F. App'x 348 (Virgo v. Riviera Beach Associates Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Virgo v. Riviera Beach Associates Ltd., 20 F. App'x 348 (6th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff, Amy L. Virgo, appeals from an order of the Honorable Aleta A. Trauger, United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, dismissing her Rule 69(a) action for supplementary proceeding in aid of collecting a judgment against Defendants, Sterling Group, Inc., L.H. Hardaway, Jr., Main Street Properties, Inc., Riviera Beach Associates and Imperial Associates, Inc. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s order.

BACKGROUND

This action arises from Plaintiffs attempts to collect an eight-year-old judgment entered against Defendants1 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida after a jury awarded Plaintiff damages which with interest and costs resulted in entry of a judgment in excess of one million dollars on her claims of quid pro quo sexual harassment in violation of Title VII and state law. Defendants appealed the verdict to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which affirmed the judgment. Virgo v. Riviera Beach Assoc., Ltd., 30 F.3d 1350 (11th Cir.1994).

The pertinent facts underlying Plaintiffs Florida lawsuit are outlined in the Eleventh Circuit decision.

In 1985, L.H. Hardaway, Jr. and Imperial Associates, Inc. became limited partners in Riviera Beach Associates, Inc. (“Riviera Beach”), a partnership specifically formed to own the Sheraton Ocean Inn located on the east coast of Florida, north of Miami. Riviera Beach contracted with Sterling Group, Inc. to manage the hotel. Hugh Jones and Jerry Markert, the president and vicepresi-dent of Sterling Group respectively, were the two individuals primarily involved in managing the hotel.

In June 1986, Plaintiff Amy Virgo began working as a sales representative at the Sheraton Ocean Inn where she quickly moved up the corporate ladder. Markert promoted Virgo to assistant sales manager in July 1986, assistant general manager on August 13, 1986, and to acting general manager on August 30, 1986. In September 1986, [350]*350Jones advanced Virgo to the position of general manager.

Over the course of Virgo’s employment at the Inn, she was sexually harassed by Jones. The evidence and testimony introduced at trial described a pattern of conduct in which Jones touched her sexually without her permission, and also told her she would have to engage in sexual intercourse with him or else he would write disparaging reviews concerning her job performance. Virgo succumbed to the pressure and subsequently engaged in sexual intercourse with Jones on four different occasions. Eventually, in March 1987, Virgo voluntarily resigned on account of Jones’ sexual harassment. On May 7, 1987, Virgo filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Florida Commission on Human Rights. The EEOC issued Virgo a Notice of Right to Sue on January 10,1990.

Virgo, 30 F.3d at 1353-54.

Despite the jury verdict and the court’s decision affirming that verdict, Plaintiff has been unsuccessful in collecting her judgment. After unsuccessful attempts to attach Defendants’ assets through the courts in Florida, Plaintiff registered the Florida judgment in United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and filed the instant action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 69(a) requesting supplementary proceedings in aid of collecting the judgment. In her pleadings, Plaintiff claimed that Defendants, and specifically L.H. Hardaway, Jr., were shifting assets and creating corporations in order to avoid paying her judgment.

The district court denied Plaintiffs request for supplemental proceedings, stating,

[t]o the extent that [Plaintiffs] motion seeks to pierce the corporate veil of any entity and collect this judgment against any party who is not a named defendant in the Florida action, it is DENIED. Such relief would have to be sought by filing a new lawsuit, initiated by the filing of a Complaint in the appropriate forum. To the extent that the plaintiff seeks to compel discovery that has already been ordered by Judge Moreno in the Southern District of Florida, she should pursue that relief in that court.

Virgo v. Riviera Beach Assoc., Ltd., Civil No. 3:98-MC-075, slip op. at 2 (M.D.Tenn. Jan. 19,1999) (emphasis in original).

This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

I.

Although the district court’s factual findings are reviewed for clear error, we review the district court’s legal interpretation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure de novo. Cf. Beck v. Prupis, 162 F.3d 1090, 1100 (11th Cir.1998); Unicom Tales, Inc. v. Banerjee, 138 F.3d 467, 469 (2d Cir.1998); United States v. Lopez, 4 F.3d 1455, 1458 (9th Cir.1993).

II.

The Supreme Court has stated that a federal court has “inherent power to enforce its judgment.” Peacock v. Thomas, 516 U.S. 349, 356, 116 S.Ct. 862, 133 L.Ed.2d 817 (1996). As the Court stated,

[w]ithout jurisdiction to enforce a judgment entered by a federal court, “the judicial power would be incomplete and entirely inadequate to the purposes for which it was conferred by the Constitution.” In defining that power, we have approved the exercise of ancillary jurisdiction over a broad range of supplementary proceedings involving third parties to assist in the protection and [351]*351enforcement of federal judgments — including attachment, mandamus, garnishment, and the prejudgment avoidance of fraudulent conveyances.

Id. (citations omitted). Supplementary proceedings are therefore essential to enforcing the judgments of the federal courts. Riggs v. Johnson County, 6 Wall. 166, 73 U.S. 166, 187, 18 L.Ed. 768 (1867).

Having properly registered her Florida judgment in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Plaintiff is entitled to have that judgment enforced in accordance with the laws of the state of Tennessee. 28 U.S.C. § 1963; FDIC v. British-American Corp., 726 F.Supp. 622, 630 (E.D.N.C.1989). In this regard, Plaintiff’s Florida judgment is treated as if it was actually rendered by the Middle District of Tennessee. Anderson v. Tucker, 68 F.R.D. 461, 463 (D.Conn.1975). Accordingly, the district court had the authority to order and conduct supplementary proceedings in accordance with Tennessee law.

However, Plaintiffs request for supplementary proceedings in the instant case is not in accordance with Tennessee law. Although it is far from clear exactly what Plaintiff sought in the form of supplementary proceedings, a review of the record evokes two possible interpretations.

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