Peterec v. TGI Fridays, Inc.
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:23-cv-08028
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Peterec v. TGI Fridays, Inc., Judge Karas received defendants’ request to extend a bankruptcy stay to individual defendants; no ruling appears.
John L. Peterec, TGI Fridays, Inc., David Alvarez-Tudares, and Renee M. Mejia. The requested stay would affect the claims against Alvarez-Tudares and Mejia and could protect TGI Fridays’ bankruptcy estate and its insurance policy, but the text does not show whether the request was granted or denied.
What happened
In Peterec v. TGI Fridays, Inc., the defendants responded to TGI Fridays’ notice concerning a pending bankruptcy and an automatic pause on proceedings. The response was submitted by David Alvarez-Tudares and Renee M. Mejia, represented by counsel, and concerned claims brought by John L. Peterec, who is identified as representing himself.
Alvarez-Tudares and Mejia asked the court to extend the bankruptcy-related pause to the claims against them. They argued that continuing the case could use TGI Fridays’ insurance policy, which they said covered defense costs and potential liability for all defendants and was an asset of TGI Fridays’ bankruptcy estate.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas’s ruling is not included in the provided text. Instead, the text says Peterec must respond by December 30, 2024, and directs the clerk to mail him the document.
The detailed version
- Peterec v. TGI Fridays, Inc. · No. 7:23-cv-08028
- Kenneth Karas
- Dec. 15, 2024
Document and background
The provided text is a December 13, 2024 letter from counsel for TGI Fridays, Inc., David Alvarez-Tudares, and Renee M. Mejia. It responds on behalf of Alvarez-Tudares and Mejia to TGI Fridays’ notice concerning a pending bankruptcy and an automatic stay. An automatic stay is a bankruptcy-law pause that generally stops specified actions against the bankruptcy estate.
The letter says that on December 2, 2024, the court directed the other parties to respond to TGI Fridays’ notice. It identifies John L. Peterec as the plaintiff and states that he is representing himself.
Defendants’ request
Alvarez-Tudares and Mejia asked the court to extend the stay to the claims against them. They relied on decisions discussing when a bankruptcy stay may protect non-bankrupt parties whose defense could have an immediate adverse economic effect on the bankruptcy estate.
The letter’s main argument concerned an insurance policy issued by Chubb North American Claims. It states that the policy covered defense costs and possible liability for TGI Fridays and the individual defendants, and that the insurer had acknowledged coverage of the claims in this case. The defendants argued that continuing the litigation against Alvarez-Tudares and Mejia would draw on the policy and deplete an asset of TGI Fridays’ bankruptcy estate.
Procedural status
The provided text does not contain a ruling granting, denying, or otherwise resolving the requested stay. It states that Peterec was to respond by December 30, 2024, and that the clerk was directed to mail him the document. Judge Kenneth M. Karas’s ruling on the request is therefore not shown in the provided text.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.