In re: KAULI SAILI, JR.,
- Summarized by Jaden Banks , US Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri
- 2 months 1 week ago
- Case Type:
- Consumer
- Case Status:
- Affirmed
- Citation:
- 22-3268 (10th Circuit, Sep 18,2023) Published
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court of Kansas's grant of summary judgment against Kauli Saili Jr, (the "Plaintiff"), holding that judicial estoppel prevented the plaintiff from pursuing his employment discrimination claims because he failed to disclose those claims on his bankruptcy schedules, took contrary positions between this and his bankruptcy case, and he attempted to obtain an unfair advantage by concealing his potential claim.
- Procedural context:
- In 2022, the Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging his employer, Waste Management, created a hostile work environment and engaged in a practice of discrimination against him. Waste Management moved for summary judgement alleging that the Plaintiff should be judicially estopped from prosecuting his employment discrimination claims because he had represented in his concurrent Chapter 13 case that he did not possess any claim against Waste Management, he had not reported any claim to the Chapter 13 trustee as required by his Chapter 13 plan, and he failed to amend his schedules to reflect any claim. The District Court granted summary judgment and the Plaintiff appealed.
- Facts:
- The Plaintiff began working at Waste Management in 2016. In 2019, the Plaintiff filed for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 13 and his schedules affirmatively represented that he did not have any claims against third parties or any other contingent and unliquidated claims. The bankruptcy court confirmed the Plaintiff's Chapter 13 plan, which required that the Plaintiff timely report to the Chapter 13 trustee any events during the pendency of the case affecting his disposable income including any compensation received or receivable from a lawsuit. The Plaintiff never reported any potential claims and never amended his schedules.
Then in 2022, the Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that in 2017 Waste Management began subjecting him to a hostile work environment and discriminated against him based on his race, and he further alleged that it retaliated against him for taking family medical leave in 2021. Waste Management moved for summary judgment on the grounds that judicial estoppel prevented the Plaintiff from pursuing his employment discrimination claims because he failed to disclose them in his bankruptcy case. Following the filing of the summary judgment motion, the Plaintiff requested that the bankruptcy court appoint his district court counsel to serve as an agent of his bankruptcy estate to prosecute his employment discrimination claims. The bankruptcy court approved the appointment. The District Court determined that the Plaintiff took inconsistent positions between his bankruptcy case and employment discrimination case; the bankruptcy court accepted the Plaintiff's position before it and confirmed his Chapter 13 plan based on that positioning; and the Plaintiff attempted to obtain an unfair advantage by not disclosing the potential litigation.
- Judge(s):
- Hartz, Tymkovich, Matheson
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