Case Roundup! a Disney Production

Supreme Court

Howard Delivery Serv., Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co. (06/15/06 - No. 05–128)

In the context of bankruptcy law, premiums owed by an employer to a workers' compensation carrier do not fit within 11 U.S.C. section 507(a)(5), which accords priorities, among unsecured creditors' claims, for unpaid contributions to "an employee benefit plan."

1st Circuit

U.S. v. Sayer (06/13/06 - No. 05-1917, 05-1918)

Judgment of the district court in a tax case involving a farm is vacated insofar as it includes foreclosure of the property and remanded for dismissal of the federal government's foreclosure claims where the federal government failed to satisfy a Maine tax lien on the property within the prescribed period, thus the tax lien took priority over the foreclosure.

Boyd v. Commissioner of IRS (06/13/06 - No. 05-2517)

Dismissal of a tax suit involving the distinction between a "levy" and an "offset" is affirmed where: 1) the tax court did not have jurisdiction over the case since there had been no determination by an IRS appeals officer; and 2) the procedural differences between levy and offset were not eliminated, thus the court's jurisdictional ruling had no adverse impact on plaintiffs' substantive rights.

9th Circuit

ZiLOG, Inc. v. Corning (06/15/06 - No. 04-15787, 04-15794)

A bankruptcy court's decisions are reversed as to: 1) grant of summary judgment to a bankruptcy debtor on female employees' sex discrimination claims; 2) discharge of the employees' statutory, contract and tort claims; 3) a permanent injunction against the employees' pursuit of those claims; 4) a determination that the women failed to show excusable neglect for not filing those claims on time; and 5) an award of sanctions.

11th Circuit

Guerra v. Fernandez-Rocha (06/12/06 - No. 06-10159)

Dismissal of adversary complaint, brought based on debtor's failure to comply with Florida's Financial Responsibility Act, is affirmed where the debt in issue is dischargeable in bankruptcy.