Peoples v. Radloff (In re Peoples)
- Citation:
- No. 13-2686 (8th Cir. Aug. 20, 2014)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The Eighth Circuit affirmed the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s ruling that a chapter 7 debtor lacked standing to appeal an order approving the trustee’s compromise of a lawsuit belonging to the estate where the debtor lacked a pecuniary interest in the dispute. To establish standing, the person aggrieved doctrine requires the appellant to demonstrate a pecuniary interest in the outcome that is more than merely “speculative or contingent.”
- Procedural context:
- The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of debtor’s motion to set aside a bankruptcy court order approving the chapter 7 trustee’s proposed compromise of a litigation claim belonging to the bankruptcy estate. The debtor appealed.
- Facts:
- In her chapter 7 case, the debtor (Peoples) failed to disclose a pending lawsuit against a third party for employment discrimination. The chapter 7 trustee subsequently intervened to pursue the litigation for the benefit of the estate and, in the course of litigation, reached a settlement with the defendant that included a cash payment to the estate, but was insufficient to provide any distribution to the debtor. Having failed to timely object to the compromise, Peoples subsequently filed a motion to set aside the order approving the compromise, which the bankruptcy court denied. On appeal, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held that the debtor failed to show a pecuniary interest in the compromise sufficient to establish her standing to object to the compromise or to appeal it.
- Judge(s):
- Bye, Colloton, and Kelly.
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