Myers v. Toojay's Management Corp.

Summarized by Paul Avron , Berger Singerman LLP
14 years 9 months ago

Citation:

Case No. 10-10774

Tag(s):

11th Circuit

Ruling:

Section 525(b) of the Bankruptcy Code does not prohibit a private employer from declining to hire a person that has filed for bankruptcy.

Procedural context:

The plaintiff and defendant filed cross summary judgment motions that dealt with the principle issue of whether the defendant violated section 525(b) of the Bankruptcy Code by declining to hire a person that had filed for bankruptcy. The plaintiff appealed that decision which was affirmed by the Eleventh Circuit.

Facts:

The plaintiff took part in a 2 day on the job evaluation used to determine if the defendant-employer would hire him in a managerial position. The defendant checked the plaintiff's credit profile and learned that he had filed bankruptcy. The defendant declined to extend a job offer (which was coincidentally the same date he gave notice to his then employer that he was resigninf his position). The plaintiff filed suit, principally alleging that the defendant's decision to not hire him based on his prior bankruptcy filing violated section 525(b) of the Bankruptcy Code. The district court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment and denied the plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment, concluding that section 525(b) did not address the hiring of an individual who had filed bankruptcy. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed, engaging primarily in an exercise of statutory construction and using "common sense." Unlike section 525(a), which applies to governmental entities, the Eleventh Circuit noted that there was no language in section 525(b) which proscribed a private employer's decision to not hire someone who had filed bankruptcy, and declined to construe section 525(b) to include such a proscription.

ABI Membership is required to access the full summary. Please Sign In using your ABI Member credentials. Not a Member yet? Join ABI now - it is absolutely worth it!