Dennis v. A.H. Robins Co., Inc.
| Decision Date | 08 November 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-1347,88-1347 |
| Citation | 860 F.2d 871 |
| Parties | Bankr. L. Rep. P 72,529 Patricia DENNIS, Appellant, v. A.H. ROBINS CO., INC., Melvin Schwartz, (DR.), Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Drew C. Baebler, St. Louis, Mo., for appellant.
Timothy S. Richards, St. Louis, Mo., James S. Crockett, Richmond, Va., for appellees.
Before WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge, FLOYD R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge, and BEAM, Circuit Judge.
Patricia Dennis appeals from the district court's dismissal of her personal injury suit against A.H. Robins Company, Inc. and Melvin Schwartz, M.D. Dennis challenges the dismissal claiming that the district court was prevented from dismissing the case because of an automatic stay imposed under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 362. We reverse.
Dennis filed suit against A.H. Robins and Dr. Schwartz alleging that she suffered pelvic inflammatory disease and later required a total hysterectomy as a result of using the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device manufactured by A.H. Robins. Dr. Schwartz was her treating physician. Shortly after suit was filed, A.H. Robins filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and, on August 26, 1985, filed a Notice of Commencement of Chapter 11 Case and Imposition of Automatic Stay with the district court and the parties involved.
On four separate occasions the district court entered an order staying the action against A.H. Robins and Dr. Schwartz. Each time the court requested that counsel keep the court apprised of the status of the A.H. Robins bankruptcy by filing a request to delay or deny dismissal of the case within 120 days of the order. Twice counsel filed the request after the deadline set by the court. Twice counsel failed to file a request. The first time counsel did not file the request the court dismissed the action sua sponte. Upon motion of Dennis's attorney, the court reinstated the action. After the second failure to file a request, the court dismissed the action with prejudice. This appeal resulted.
Dennis contends that the district court lacked the power and jurisdiction to dismiss her case after the section 362 automatic stay had been imposed. Section 362 states that a bankruptcy petition "operates as a stay, applicable to all entities, of--(1) the * * * continuation * * * of a judicial * * * proceeding against the debtor that was * * * commenced before the commencement of the [bankruptcy]." "All entities" is defined in 11 U.S.C. Sec. 101(14) as including governmental units; "governmental unit" is defined, in part, in 11 U.S.C. Sec. 101(21) as " * * * department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States." Therefore, Dennis argues, the district court, as an agency of the United States and consequently a governmental unit, is stayed from affecting Dennis's judicial proceeding against A.H. Robins and Dr. Schwartz, including the dismissal of the action.
We are not persuaded by this argument. Section 1481 of Title 28 of the United States Code gives the bankruptcy court the powers of a court of equity, law, and admiralty but states that the bankruptcy court "may not enjoin another court." The bankruptcy court does not have the power to preclude another court from dismissing a case on its docket or to affect the handling of a case in a manner not inconsistent with the purpose of the automatic stay.
Moore v. St. Louis Music Supply Co., 539 F.2d 1191, 1193 (8th Cir.1976), citing Link v. Wabash R.R., 370 U.S. 626, 633, 82 S.Ct. 1386, 1390, 8 L.Ed.2d 734 (1962). The need of a court to advance a crowded docket and to...
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C.H. Robinson Co. v. Paris & Sons, Inc., C01-2030-MWB.
...concerning this issue. The Eighth Circuit's first treatment of an extension of the section 362 stay was in Dennis v. A.H. Robins Co., 860 F.2d 871 (8th Cir.1988) (per curiam). The issue before the court in that case was whether the district court had the power to dismiss a non-bankruptcy ac......
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Western Real Estate Fund, Inc., In re
...reservations. See, e.g., In re American Hardwoods, Inc., 885 F.2d 621, 622-23, 624-27 (9th Cir.1989); Dennis v. A.H. Robbins Co., 860 F.2d 871, 872-73 (8th Cir.1988). But see Lynch v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 710 F.2d 1194, 1196-1200 (6th Cir.1983) (pre-Piccinin case denying stay under s......
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O'Donnell v. Vencor Inc.
...that this court in Independent Union of Flight Attendants explicitly adopted the rationale articulated by the Eighth Circuit in Dennis v. A.H. Robins Co., where the Eighth Circuit held that the district court has the power to dismiss a case for docket management purposes under Rule 41(b) no......
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Quiñones-Irizarry v. CorporacióN Del Fondo Del Seguro Del Estado
...by a Court of an action against a debtor may not be an impermissible ‘continuation’ of a proceeding."); Dennis v. A.H. Robins Co., 860 F.2d 871, 872 (8th Cir. 1988) (per curiam ) (holding that stay does not prevent "another court from dismissing a case on its docket"); Martin v. Hearst Corp......