Thomas v. Carvel
| Decision Date | 20 August 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 09 Civ. 5083 (JSR),09 Civ. 5083 (JSR) |
| Citation | 736 F.Supp.2d 730 |
| Parties | THOMAS AND AGNES CARVEL FOUNDATION, Plaintiff, v. Pamela CARVEL and the Carvel Foundation, Inc., Defendants. Pamela Carvel, Counterclaim and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation, William Griffin, and Kevin Stevens, Counterclaim and Third-Party-Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Joan Marie Magoolaghan, Koob & Magoolaghan, Yonkers, NY, Kevin A. Stevens, Kevin A. Stevens PC, Suffern, NY, for Plaintiff/Counter Defendant.
Pamela Carvel, Wilmington, DE, pro se.
On May 7, 2010, the Honorable Michael H. Dolinger, United States MagistrateJudge, issued a thorough and well-reasoned 107-page Report and Recommendation ("Report") in the above-captioned matter, recommending that: 1) the motion for summary judgment by plaintiff Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation ("TAF") be granted; 2) the motion by counterclaim defendants TAF, William Griffin and Kevin Stevens dismissing claims by counterclaim plaintiff Pamela Carvel ("Ms. Carvel") be granted; 3) the motion by Ms. Carvel for sanctions against counterclaim defendants be denied; 4) defendant Carvel Foundation be dismissed from the lawsuit; 5) TAF, Griffin and Stevens be awarded their costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, as against Ms. Carvel for their defense against her claims; and, finally, 6) that the Court enjoin Ms. Carvel from further, similar court filings as follows:
On June 10, 2010, Ms. Carvel filed voluminous objections, amplified by numerous exhibits, objecting to the Report "in its entirety."
Accordingly, the Court has reviewed the objections and underlying record de novo. Having done so, the Court finds itself in complete agreement with the Report, which the Court hereby adopts by reference.1 Among other things, this means that the aforesaid injunction takes effect immediately.
The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter final judgment and to close documents 5 and 41 on the docket of this case.
SO ORDERED.
REPORT & RECOMMENDATION
Plaintiff Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation (the "TAF"), a New York not-for-profit corporation, commenced this lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court, New York County, seeking recognition, under N.Y. C.P.L.R. §§ 5303 and 5304, of two money judgments entered in the courts of the United Kingdom against defendant Pamela Carvel. In addition to Ms. Carvel, plaintiff named as a second defendant the so-called Carvel Foundation,Inc., a not-for-profit Florida corporation that Ms. Carvel had founded.
Ms. Carvel, appearing pro se, removed the case to this court based on diversity jurisdiction. She then asserted counterclaims and third-party claims against the TAF as well as against William Griffin, who is the chairman of the TAF (Decl. of Joan Magoolaghan, Esq. in Supp. of Pl.'s Mot. to Dismiss Countercls. and for Sanctions, executed Aug. 28, 2009, ¶ 8 n. 7), and against Kevin Stevens, Esq., who is the attorney representing the TAF on its application for recognition of the United Kingdom judgments.
Plaintiff's initial filing in state court was in the form of a Notice of Motion for Summary Judgment in Lieu of Complaint. Upon removal of the case to this court, the TAF filed a full-blown motion for summary judgment, premised in large part on the papers that it had filed in state court. . In addition, the TAF and Messrs. Griffin and Stevens, represented by separate counsel, have moved to dismiss Ms. Carvel's counterclaims and third-party claims. They also seek to impose sanctions on her for bad-faith litigation and to enjoin her from filing further lawsuits on the same topics against the TAF and its representatives. Ms. Carvel has opposed all of these motions and has in turn moved for sanctions against the TAF and Messrs. Griffin and Stevens.
For reasons to be noted, we recommend (1) that the defendant Carvel Foundation, Inc. be dismissed from the case, (2) that the motions of plaintiff the TAF for summary judgment and of the TAF and the third-party defendants for dismissal of Ms. Carvel's claims be granted, (3) that their motion for sanctions be granted in part and (4) that Ms. Carvel be enjoined from pursuing similar litigation against the TAF and its agents in this court. We also recommend that Ms. Carvel's motion for sanctions be denied.
To aid in understanding the issues in this case, we summarize certain events concerning the disposition of assets from the estate of Thomas Carvel, including related legal proceedings. In doing so, we make no effort to recount the many twists and turns of the extremely lengthy and complicated history of Pamela Carvel's dealings with the estates of her uncle and aunt and with the TAF, as well as with the numerous individuals drawn into the vortex of estate-related litigation. We instead limit ourselves to the contextual facts most pertinent to the current controversy.
The genesis of this litigation goes back to documents executed in 1988 by ice-cream magnate Thomas Carvel and his wife Agnes Carvel, the uncle and aunt, respectively, of Pamela Carvel. At that time they signed a will contract, which provided for the mutual execution of mirror-image wills, each specifying that, in case of the death of the testator, the assets of the marriage would be placed in a marital trust and provide income for life to the surviving spouse, with the residual assets then being left, on the death of the surviving spouse, to the TAF for charitable uses. Magoolaghan Decl. at ¶ 8; In re Thomas & Agnes Carvel Found., 8 Misc.3d 1025(A), 806 N.Y.S.2d 449, 2002 WL 32872391, *2-3 (Sur. Ct. Westchester County Apr. 1, 2002) (hereafter " In re TAF "). The couple executed compliant wills and stock powers at the same time. These documents created a testamentary trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse and named the TAF as the sole beneficiary upon the death of both Carvels. Magoolaghan Decl. at ¶ 8;In re TAF, 2002 WL 32872391, at *3; App. to Pamela Carvel's Aff. & Mem. of Law in Opp'n to Mot. to Dismiss Countercls. and for Sanctions ("Carvel Aff. in Opp'n to Dismissal and Sanctions"), executed Sept. 23, 2009, A1-880213TC WILL, at 1, 6-7) (included on submitted compact disc).1
Thomas Carvel died in 1990, and the Surrogate's Court of Westchester County took jurisdiction over his estate. In re TAF, 2002 WL 32872391, at *3. Under his will, both Agnes Carvel and Pamela Carvel were appointed, with five other individuals, as co-executors of his estate. (App. to Carvel Aff. in Opp'n to Dismissal and Sanctions, A1-880213TC WILL, at 10). They also were appointed as co-trustees of the testamentary trust created by his will. Id.
At about that time Agnes Carvel executed a new will in the belief that her original 1988 will had been lost. The new will reflected in substance the same terms as its predecessor, and was thus compliant with the reciprocal agreement between her and her late husband. In re TAF, 2002 WL 32872391, at *3; Magoolaghan Decl. at ¶ 10. In 1991 she created a revocable trust, titled the Agnes Carvel 1991 Trust. Under its terms she took a life interest in the trust fund, with the balance bequeathed to the TAF on her death. She later transferred substantial assets into that trust. In re TAF, 2002 WL 32872391, at *3; Magoolaghan Decl. at ¶ 10.2
In the period between December 1994 and February 2005, Pamela Carvel transferred more than $2 million from the estate of Thomas Carvel into a London account in her own name and that of her aunt, and did so without notice to the other co-executors of the Thomas Carvel estate. (Magoolaghan Decl., Ex. F- In re Thomas Carvel, Order at 3 (Sur. Ct. Westchester County July 5, 1995), Ex. G- In re Thomas Carvel, Decision at 2-3 (Sur. Ct. Westchester County Feb. 17, 2000)). In 1995 Agnes Carvel moved to the United Kingdom, apparently to live with Pamela Carvel, who already principally resided there. (Magoolaghan Decl. at ¶ 11).3 In addition, in June 1995 Pamela Carvel obtained appointment by the Florida Circuit Court for Palm Beach, Probate Division, as limited guardian of her aunt's property. (Magoolaghan Decl., Ex. F at 3).
Shortly after the transfer of the $2 million to the London account of Pamela and Agnes Carvel, Pamela's Carvel's co-executor Betty Godley applied to the Surrogate's Court to order a return of these assets to the Thomas Carvel estate. ( Id., Ex. G at 3). In the course of that proceeding, the Surrogate suspended Pamela Carvel's roles as co-executor of Thomas Carvel's will and co-trustee of his testamentary trust based inter alia on...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Ground Zero Museum Workshop v. Wilson
...the absence of a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issues in the prior action.” Thomas & Agnes Carvel Found. v. Carvel, 736 F.Supp.2d 730, 758 (S.D.N.Y.2010). Issue preclusion applies here because Suson had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue of whether the New York Po......
-
Workshop v. Wilson
...the absence of a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issues in the prior action." Thomas & Agnes Carvel Found. v. Carvel, 736 F.Supp.2d 730, 758 (S.D.N.Y. 2010). Issue preclusion applies here because Suson had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue of whether the New York P......
-
In re Nicholas
...a pro se litigant does not relieve him of the obligation to comply with the discharge injunction. See Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation v. Carvel, 736 F.Supp.2d 730, 766 (S.D.N.Y.2010) (“The fact that the targeted party is a pro se litigant does not immunize her from the consequences of vi......
-
Munsch v. Evans
...attempted to argue that the Westchester County Surrogate Court's decisions were "null and void" for lack of jurisdiction. 736 F. Supp. 2d 730, 765 (S.D.N.Y. 2010). In addition to finding that Pamela Carvel failed to state a claim on this ground, the courtheld, "[i]n any event this court doe......