Ellis v. Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, No. 20-2867 (3d Cir. 2021)
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Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In June 2017, the Bankruptcy Court set a “General Bar Date” of September 1, 2017—the deadline by which creditors had to file proofs of claims for most prepetition claims. The Bankruptcy Court confirmed a Reorganization Plan on March 28, 2018, 11 U.S.C. 1129. The effectiveness of the confirmed Plan was delayed to August 1, 2018, pending the closing of a transaction that required approval from government agencies. Westinghouse gave notice that, under the confirmed Plan, August 31, 2018, was the deadline for filing administrative expense claims.
In May 2018, Westinghouse terminated Ellis’s employment, explaining that his department was being restructured. Ellis, age 67, believed he was unlawfully fired due to his age. He filed an EEOC charge in July 2018. The discrimination claim “arose” when he was terminated, so it is a claim after confirmation of the Plan but before its Effective Date. Ellis never took any action in the Bankruptcy Court. In October 2018, Ellis filed suit against Westinghouse, which moved for summary judgment, arguing that Ellis’s claim, as an administrative expense claim not timely filed by the Administrative Claims Bar Date, was discharged. The Third Circuit reversed summary judgment in favor of Ellis. As a matter of first impression, the court reasoned that the holder of a post-confirmation administrative expense claim cannot choose to bypass the bankruptcy process, so if the claim is not timely filed by the bar date, it faces discharge like a preconfirmation claim.
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