Authors

Joanna Matuza

Document Type

Research Memorandum

Publication Date

2016

Abstract

(Excerpt)

When a corporation files for bankruptcy, it is entitled to an automatic stay of any action that has been filed against it pursuant to section 362(a)(1) of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). But today, litigation is often complex and involves more than one defendant. For example, I may commence an action against corporations X, Y and Z. Corporation X then files for bankruptcy and is entitled to an automatic stay. The question in these cases is whether the automatic stay applicable to the debtor corporation (Corporation X) also applies to the non-debtor corporations (Corporations Y and Z).

This was precisely the issue that was addressed in Pavers & Road Builders District Council Welfare Fund v. Core Contracting of NY, LLC. Here, the District Court for the Eastern District of New York exercised its discretion with regard to automatic stays in its holding that a corporation’s alter ego status does not permit an automatic stay for non-debtors. In Pavers & Road Builders District Council Welfare Fund, administrators of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) pension fund brought suit against four related corporate defendants for “delinquent contributions and shifting of assets to avoid having to pay workers.” Canal Asphalt, the defendant-debtor, filed a voluntary petition for chapter 11 relief in the Southern District of New York. Thus, the cause of action was automatically stayed against the debtor, pursuant to section 362(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code. The other defendants argued in a letter to the District Court of the Eastern District of New York that because the non-debtor corporations are alter egos of one another, the automatic stay arising in the debtor’s case should prevent the action from proceeding against all defendants. The District Court disagreed and instead, issued an order stating that the automatic stay only enjoined actions against debtors or their property.

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