Batanado v. Clark (In re Clark)
| Decision Date | 06 September 2018 |
| Docket Number | ADVERSARY PROCEEDING NO. 17-5147,BANKRUPTCY CASE NO. 17-53487-JWC |
| Citation | 591 B.R. 99 |
| Parties | In the MATTER OF: Allyson Renea CLARK, Debtor. Panawe Batanado, Plaintiff, v. Allyson Renea Clark, Defendant, Allyson Renea Clark, Counter-Claimant, v. Panawe Batanado, Counter-Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Northern District of Georgia |
Panawe Batanado, pro se.
Milton D. Jones, Attorney, Morrow, GA, for Defendant/Counter-Claimant.
This matter came before the Court upon the Complaint Objecting to and Seeking to Determine Dischargeability of Debt filed by Panawe Batanado ("Plaintiff") in the above-captioned matter. At the conclusion of the trial conducted on August 1, 2018, the Court took this matter under advisement. The Court has jurisdiction over this proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157(b)(2) and 1334(b). Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1408 and 1409. The claim of Plaintiff and the counterclaims of Defendant Allyson Renea Clark ("Defendant") constitute core proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(C) and (J).1 Upon consideration of the testimony and documentary evidence admitted, arguments presented by the parties, the pleadings submitted and the record in this case, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:
I. Procedural History
Defendant filed a petition for relief under Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (the "Bankruptcy Code") on February 27, 2017. Plaintiff commenced this adversary proceeding on June 1, 2017 by filing a complaint seeking to determine the dischargeability of a debt allegedly due from Defendant. Plaintiff alleges that he engaged in an ongoing sexual relationship with Defendant that lasted more than eight years. During that period, Plaintiff contends Defendant represented to Plaintiff that she was neither married nor engaged in a sexual relationship with a party other than Plaintiff. Notwithstanding such representations, Plaintiff asserts that Defendant was actually married to and engaged in a sexual relationship with another man throughout most of their eight-year relationship. In May of 2013, with full knowledge that she was married to another man, Plaintiff contends that Defendant informed him that she was two months pregnant with Plaintiff's child and failed to disclose any question or qualification as to the potential paternity of the unborn child. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant falsely and fraudulently told him that he was the father of the child and demanded and received money from Plaintiff for support and expenses of the child on the basis that he was the child's father. The following year, Plaintiff alleges Defendant represented that she was pregnant with Plaintiff's second child without disclosing that she was engaged in a sexual relationship with another party and without disclosing any question or qualification as to the potential paternity of the second child. Plaintiff brings a claim under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) alleging that Defendant "perpetuated a fraud on Plaintiff by knowingly making false and fraudulent statements to Plaintiff concerning Plaintiff's paternity of the children that Defendant knew were false at the time that Defendant made the statements." Compl. ¶ 56 [Adversary Docket No. 1]. Through actual fraud, false pretenses and/or false representations as to Plaintiff's purported paternity of both children, Plaintiff asserts that Defendant intentionally induced Plaintiff to provide Defendant in excess of $25,000, which should be excepted from Defendant's discharge in her chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding.
In response to the Complaint, Defendant asserts that Plaintiff misrepresented his marital status to Defendant from the outset of their relationship. She further contends that she never represented to Plaintiff that he was the father of her children. Instead, Defendant contends Plaintiff assumed as much based on their "on again, off again" sexual relationship over an eight-year period. Given that she was sexually active with more than one person during the period of time in which each of the two children were conceived, Defendant asserts that she did not know who the father of either child was and therefore could not have falsely represented their paternity to Plaintiff. Additionally, Defendant contends that any money paid by Plaintiff to Defendant was not child support but instead represented an allowance so that Defendant would continue the sexual relationship with Plaintiff and for child care so that Defendant was free to meet with Plaintiff. Defendant asserts that Plaintiff is barred from recovering any amounts from Defendant due to his own unclean hands. Facts that Defendant contends support her unclean hands defense include, among other things, Plaintiff's marital status, his alleged commission of the crime of adultery under Georgia law and Plaintiff paying Defendant an "allowance" to continue their sexual relationship notwithstanding his marriage to another woman. Defendant also asserts counterclaims for fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Plaintiff. Defendant contends that Plaintiff misrepresented his marital status to Defendant at the outset of their relationship and seduced Defendant into a destructive eight-year relationship for which she suffered damages, including, but not limited to, having multiple abortions, severe anxiety, loss of self-esteem and diagnosed depression. Plaintiff disputes Defendant's unclean hands defense and denies any liability to Defendant on her counterclaims. On August 1, 2018, the Court conducted a full-day trial on the claims, defenses and counterclaims.
II. Findings of Fact
This sordid story began in or around July of 2008 when Plaintiff, who is originally from Togo, West Africa, posted his profile on eHarmony.com seeking connections to date women. Shortly after connecting on the site, Plaintiff and Defendant went on a number of dates, and their relationship quickly became sexual in nature. During this early period, Defendant accompanied Plaintiff on business trips to Los Angeles and Boston, and Plaintiff frequently provided gifts or money in various amounts to Defendant. As quickly as the relationship started, it just as quickly came to what would become the first of many ends in November of 2008, when Defendant discovered she was pregnant. Defendant testified that Plaintiff demanded that she have an abortion, which led to a breakdown in their relationship.
After the breakup, Plaintiff traveled to Togo in December of 2008 and did not return to Atlanta until January of 2009. While Plaintiff was in Togo, Defendant married another man with whom she had been friends for many years (the "First Husband"). Defendant realized soon thereafter that the marriage was a mistake and commenced divorce proceedings to end the marriage. Plaintiff was unaware of Defendant's marriage to the First Husband. Upon his return to Atlanta in January of 2009, Plaintiff paid for Defendant to have an abortion and accompanied Defendant to the procedure. It was also in or around this same period that Defendant discovered that Plaintiff was married to another woman and had a child.2 Upon Defendant's discovery of the marriage, Plaintiff told Defendant he was unhappy in his marriage and proposed to continue a relationship with Defendant. Some form of relationship continued for a few additional months but broke off again around May of 2009. Around the same time, Defendant began dating and soon married another man (the "Second Husband"). The marriage to her Second Husband occurred in June of 2009. Shortly thereafter, Defendant discovered that her divorce from her First Husband was not final and did not become final until August 3, 2009. Upon informing her Second Husband that they were not legally married, Defendant testified that they broke off their relationship.
In August of 2009, Plaintiff and Defendant reconnected and began seeing each other again and would continue the pattern of an "on again, off again" relationship over the next several years. Defendant testified that during this time frame, Plaintiff repeatedly made representations to her that he was going to leave his wife so that they could start a family together. Plaintiff testified that he did in fact intend at some point to leave his wife but that he was waiting for the right time—after his wife, who had moved from Togo in 2012, finished school and could live on her own.3
In or around May of 2013, Defendant called Plaintiff crying and saying that she was pregnant again. Plaintiff testified that she told him he was the father of the child, a fact which Defendant disputes. Defendant testified that she never told Plaintiff he was the father of the child; rather, he simply assumed as much given their ongoing sexual relationship. In December of 2013, Defendant gave birth to a son. Plaintiff was not invited to the birth of the child, purportedly because Defendant's mother did not like him. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Defendant's Second Husband attended the birth and was named as the father on the birth certificate. Defendant gave birth to a daughter the following year, in November of 2014. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant represented he was the father of the second child, which Defendant disputes. Plaintiff again was not invited to the birth, and again unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Defendant's Second Husband was named as the father on the birth certificate. Plaintiff had no role in naming either child.
Throughout their "on again, off again" relationship, Plaintiff provided money and support to Defendant. Plaintiff testified that after the birth of both children, his financial support to Defendant increased substantially because, as he contends, he was falsely led to believe he was the father of both children. Defendant, on the other hand, contends that the money paid to her by Plaintiff was not child support for the...
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