20 B 13380, 20 A 00346
Kenneth Phlamm (the “Plaintiff”), individually and on behalf of Travel Express Aviation Maintenance, Inc. (“TEAM”), filed an adversary complaint against former business partner Matthew T. Mukenschnabl (the “Debtor”), seeking a determination that a debt owed to him and TEAM by the Debtor by virtue of a state court judgment was not dischargeable pursuant to §§ 523(a)(2)(A), (a)(4), and (a)(6). After voluntarily dismissing three counts of the complaint derivatively asserted against the Debtor by TEAM, the Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment on the three remaining counts. No material facts were in dispute. The Plaintiff argued that the Debtor was precluded from re-litigating the factual issues decided by the state court under the doctrine of collateral estoppel. The Debtor contended that the elements needed to prevail pursuant to the statute under which the state court complaint had been brought were not identical to those required under §§ 523(a)(2)(A), (a)(4), and (a)(6) and that, thus, collateral estoppel was not applicable. The Court found that the factual issues sought to be precluded were the same as those that came before the state court for purposes of collateral estoppel and that the state court’s findings of fact established, as a matter of law, all of the elements required for nondischargeability under §§ 523(a)(2)(A), (a)(4), and (a)(6). Accordingly, the Court granted the Plaintiff’s motion on the three remaining counts and entered judgment in his favor.