Local No. 171 Pension Fund v. Biehl Cleaners, Inc.
- Rochon
- 1:22-cv-02133
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Local No. 171 Pension Fund v. Biehl Cleaners, Judge Rochon ruled that bankruptcy stays cover two debtor defendants, not their co-defendants.
The automatic stay affects Biehl Cleaners Inc. and Stone Brothers LLC as bankruptcy debtors. It does not automatically affect the other co-defendants, including Delbert M. Stone Revocable Trust.
What happened
Local No. 171 Pension Fund v. Biehl Cleaners, Inc. involves a notice that Biehl Cleaners, Inc. and Stone Brothers LLC filed for bankruptcy. The plaintiff told the court that the bankruptcy filings appeared to require a stay of this case.
The court explained that federal bankruptcy law automatically pauses the action only against those two companies, which are the bankruptcy debtors. The pause does not extend to the other defendants. The court also directed the parties to file a joint letter by May 26, 2023, if they sought to pause the case against Delbert M. Stone Revocable Trust.
Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ordered that the bankruptcy stay applies only to Biehl Cleaners and Stone Brothers, not the other co-defendants. The opinion does not state a separate disposition of a motion.
The detailed version
- Local No. 171 Pension Fund v. Biehl Cleaners, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-02133
- Rochon
- May 22, 2023
Background
The plaintiff informed the court that two defendants, Biehl Cleaners Inc. and Stone Brothers LLC, had filed for bankruptcy in the Central District of Illinois. The plaintiff stated that the case therefore appeared to need a stay, meaning a pause in the litigation.
Court’s Analysis
The court applied 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), the federal bankruptcy provision that automatically stays certain actions against a bankruptcy debtor. Citing Second Circuit precedent, the court stated that this automatic stay is limited to the debtors and does not extend to non-bankrupt co-defendants.
Ruling
The court ordered that the action is automatically stayed only against Biehl Cleaners and Stone Brothers, and not against the other co-defendants. The court further directed that, if the parties also sought a stay against Delbert M. Stone Revocable Trust, they had to file a joint letter by May 26, 2023. The text does not identify a separate motion or state that the entire case was stayed.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.